New Bond Street named fashion-growing prime retail location

London’s New Bond Street, home to designer brands including Mulberry, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton, has been named the fastest-growing prime retail location in the world, according to new research by CBRE.

In the CBRE’s bi-annual Global Prime Retail Rents report it reveals that prime rental growth on New Bond Street has grown 39.1 percent in Q1 2017, compared to the same period last year, making it the fast-growing prime retail location.

The report adds that New Bond Street also ranked second among the world’s top 10 most expensive retail locations, with 1,753 dollars per square foot per year in Q1 2017. However, New York’s Fifth Avenue retains its position as the world’s most expensive retail destination as it almost doubles the square foot value of London’s shopping street by commanding 3,240 dollars per square foot per year.

Rounding up the top ten markets for prime retail rents are Hong Kong’s Russell Street, Paris’s Champs-Élysées, Tokyo’s Chuo Dori, Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall, the Prime Shopping Centre in Beijing, Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse district, China’s Guangzhou, and Singapore’s Prime Shopping Centre.

Take a virtual walk down New Bond Street

Rhodri Davies, head of UK retail, CBRE, said: “London’s overall performance is emblematic of the broad strength we are seeing across the retail market in Europe. Demand for quality retail space in London remains robust and the arrival of brands such as New Balance, and Nars has further underlined the importance of these prime shopping destinations.

“However, an increase in occupational costs, as a result of business rates revaluation, has meant that retailers are increasingly being more selective about their choice of store location. This has resulted in a slowdown in the past six months of retailers transactions in London’s prime retail streets.”

New Bond Street second most expensive retail location in the world

The report also revealed that Europe was the only region to register rental growth in Q1 2017 with an increase of 4.3 percent year-on-year, which CBRE states has been driven by lack of supply in prime retail areas.

With regard the fastest growing retail locations, St. Petersburg came in second behind London’s New Bond Street after reporting a 15.4 percent year-on-year growth that was driven by an increase in tourism in the city. Auckland and Sofia were third with 12.5 percent growth, Dublin was fifth with 10.5 percent and Glasgow was sixth with 9.4 percent.

Natasha Patel, EMEA retail research at CBRE, added: “The retail sector is rapidly evolving and is a highly competitive market, therefore, retail brands must focus on targeting consumers across multiple channels.

“The physical store remains an important part of the consumer journey and retailers will continue to target prime bricks-and-mortar locations to grow their brand. Stores will also become the place that customers use to interact with physical products and retailers will use to showcase and try innovative technology.”

Image: courtesy of Louis Vuitton, New Bond Street store