London Designer Outlet sees "strongest ever April"

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 12, 2023

London Designer Outlet’s performance continues to highlight the strength of the outlets sector overall, with its operator saying this week that it saw its “strongest ever April”, with sales increasing 16% year on year and 17% since the pre-pandemic April 2019.

And Q1 sales overall reached £19.7 million, an annual increase of 17% to make it the best first quarter on record. That was a 5% rise compared to Q1 2019.

Sales were helped in Q1 by “a particularly strong two-week Easter holiday”. That boost made it the first year that the Easter period has achieved over £5 million in sales.

Clearly the people who were visiting the centre were spending more with the company saying that the average transaction value (ATV) over the period was up 14% on pre-pandemic levels.

The 10-year-old outlet mall has seen five consecutive record-breaking months, which is even more impressive given that it's coming in the middle of the cost of living crisis when retail in general is struggling.

The centre, which is at Wembley Park, has seen a large number of brands choosing to upsize and open new flagship concepts at the site. 

Over the last year Adidas, Nike, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and The Cosmetic Company Outlet have opened, boosting the premium feel of the location.

Its appeal to brands and rising sales have been helped by the ongoing development at Wembley Park, where the total number of residents has risen from 1,700 a decade ago to reach 10,000 this year. But it's not only locals who are shopping there with good transport links also making it easily accessible across a wide area, including the huge London and home counties catchment.