Background
Queens Arcade, a historical retail destination in the heart of Leeds, has recently undergone a comprehensive refurbishment and rebranding. With its newly modernised aesthetic and reinvigorated atmosphere, the property offers a distinctive opportunity for retail businesses looking to establish themselves in a vibrant and diverse retail environment.
The Challenge
At the outset, we faced a number of challenges in securing tenants for the vacant units. The Arcade had to attract businesses that aligned with its new branding – emphasising an independent, boutique feel, whilst maintaining rental levels to established operators.
Our Approach
To ensure the successful letting of the vacant units, we devised a multi-faceted strategy that would reach all potential tenants, from local businesses to national independents. The steps included:
- Engaging Local Agents: Discussing the Arcade with local agents allowed us to gain an in-depth knowledge of the retail landscape in Leeds and surrounding areas. By tapping into their known occupiers and their requirements we were able to identify and engage businesses that Would be a good fit for the Arcade.
- Engaging with Local businesses: We visited various local businesses based in Leeds, generally with retail premises already and spoke to them about the possibility of re locating or acquiring a second site in Leeds City Centre
- Marketing: In addition to local outreach, we created and sent out detailed marketing materials to our national database of retailers, agents and business owners.
- Exploring Opportunities in Surrounding Towns: Understanding that many independent businesses in the surrounding towns of Leeds may be looking for expansion opportunities, we conducted a comprehensive outreach campaign to local shops and businesses in nearby areas. Our team personally contacted a range of independent retailers to gauge interest in relocating or expanding into the Arcade.
- Local Advertising: To ensure that we reached a local audience, we also took out advertisements in the local press. By targeting community papers and publications that serve the Leeds area, we were able to capture the attention of smaller, independent businesses who may not have been as active in online retail property markets.
The Result:
Our comprehensive strategy allowed us to a wide variety of agents and tenants directly. By targeting both local and national businesses, as well as leveraging the expertise of local agents, we ensured that we didn’t miss any viable candidates for the vacant units.
Within a short period of being instructed to act on the Arcade, we secured two lettings in the two longstanding vacant units. Sugarize, an independent sweet shop and Shawarma Shack, an up and coming shawarma restaurant with a site in Stratford, London. Both occupiers fit very well within the Arcade and create a more diverse range of uses.
