Case Study - The White Rose Shopping Centre

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The White Rose Shopping Centre is sited four miles south west of Leeds. It was opened in March 1997. The centre, owned by Land Securities, has 92 units including the food court.  Land Securities is the largest listed property owning company in the UK. It owns many shopping centres and retail parks across the country and is landlord to many high street stores. When a new centre is planned, often staff at Land Securities talk to large retail companies and encourage them to be their anchor stores. This is beneficial to both parties because the companies can have the store built to their specifications and the landlord can use the anchor's name to attract other companies to rent units.  In other cases the centres are built and then tenants are sought to fill the units. Land Securities employs 29 people to run the White Rose Shopping Centre including duty managers, marketing and administration staff.

The White Rose Shopping Centre has two types of customers: the tenants (shops) and the visitors (shoppers). They are both equally important. It costs £4m to run the centre each year, all of which is raised from the service charge made to the tenants so Land Securities has to provide a good service. Sainsbury's and Debenham's are the White Rose Shopping Centre's main anchors, with BHS, Next, Argos, Woolworth and Littlewood's the mid anchors. The anchors are considered to be the main attractions in bringing shoppers to the centre.

When any shop becomes vacant it has to be filled by another retail outlet. If there is a waiting list Land Securities can offer the unit to a store that would balance the needs of the centre. It has to bear in mind the politics of the centre and company as a whole. For example if there was a large electrical retail store in the centre and the White Rose Shopping Centre proposed to let a larger unit to its biggest rival, the original retailer may say that it had been thinking about renting a large unit at another Land Securities site but it would not consider it if its rival was allowed into White Rose. However the priority for Land Securities is to make sure that all units are fully let so if it can let a unit to a company that sells a product that is already well represented in the centre it will do so rather than let a unit lie empty.

Land Securities bases the rent for each unit on an amount per m2. It bases each store's rent on the weighted floor area. This means that the first 500m2 closest to the thoroughfare is charged at 100% the next 1000m2 is charged at 80%, the next 2000m2 at 60%, the next 1000m2 at 50% and the rest of the store at 40%. This is because the area nearer to the thoroughfare takes a greater benefit from the Centre – such as heating, lighting and security.  In general leases are for 15 – 25 years and rent is reviewed every 5 years. It is always an upward review. Land Securities accumulates evidence on what the market will take. A store that came in seven years ago will now be paying 30-40% more in rent. Most companies are keen to stay in the centre and Land Securities has only lost stores where the companies concerned have closed stores nationally e.g. Mothercare.

The White Rose Shopping Centre has many rivals for customers; these include Leeds City Centre and Glasshoughton Freeport Village. It does not consider Meadowhall in Sheffield to be a rival. Research shows that shoppers tend to visit Meadowhall only once or twice per year and when they do they  spend most of the day there. At the White Rose Shopping Centre the average person visits 41 times per year for a shorter period. The centre has circa 13 million visitors per year. The company does a lot of research about its customers and has found that the most  are aged 35-44 years and come from the lower B, C1 and C2 social classes. The majority of customers come from within eight miles and have an 18-minute journey to the centre. 90% of the customers travel by car and 10% by bus.

The White Rose Shopping Centre has a dedicated bus station and would like its own rail halt. The railway line from Leeds borders the centre and Land Securities is seeking planning permission for the halt to be built. 

Research has shown that shoppers visit the centre for a variety of reasons including the excellent range range of shops, value for money and it is easy to get to. The White Rose Shopping Centre has also carried out research to find out who doesn't visit the centre and why. The reasons for this include there are no leisure facilities available, and that it is too far to travel. Research has also shown that a significant number perceive the shopping centre as being "too posh". This has an effect on what stores it can include in the Centre. If it accepted expensive designer stores it may alienate more of its current customers instead of attracting new customers. It cannot aim too high or too low otherwise it will alienate their current customers.

Land Securities has to make sure that all types of customer are catered for at the centre. There are now more single people and older customers with disposable income. It knows that the "tweens" is an increasingly important market and so the White Rose Shopping Centre is focused on finding ways to appeal to this market. There are increasing numbers of single young men who shop at the Centre and the tenant mix needs to reflect this trend. It advertises on radio, in newspapers, with leaflets but not on television. The reason is its customer base is very local and the television coverage is regional. The centre is keen on community relations because it is its neighbours who come to shop there. It hosts tea dances, mall walking, and an education centre to benefit the community. It has a disability sub-committee to look after that sector of the community.

Out of town shopping centres are popular with both retailers and customers. The retailers want to have large stores but this is not always easy in city centres and so they moved out of town. Customers like out of town centres because they have free parking, are well lit and secure and convenient. The Government moved against out of town centres for various reasons a number of years ago and White Rose Shopping Cente was one of the last to be built.

 White Rose Shopping Centre Questions

1. How would you attract more young men to the shopping centre?
2. Why would mall walking be an attractive proposition to the shops in the White Rose Centre?
3. Why would retailers like to be anchor stores in new developments?
4. Who are White Rose Centre's customers?
5. Why would a railway halt be beneficial to the Centre?
6. Name four rivals for the customers of White Rose Centre?
7. Why would White Rose Centre let an empty store to a mobile phone company when there are already a number of such stores in the centre?
8. How many units are there in the Centre?
9. Why do retailers not want to leave the Centre?
10. Why is local radio more appropriate than regional television for advertising the Centre?

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