Commercial retail sector index

摘要

Retail construction will rise in the next couple of years but whether you benefit or not depends on which part of the retail market you are in. The CPA/Barbour ABI retail index was 143 in July, 4% higher than in June and 9% higher than a year earlier. Many retailers are expanding: Superdrug plans to open 100 new stores by 2018, Ikea plans to trial smaller concept stores serving as online order collection points, and sandwich and coffee chains are continuing to open stores in line with existing plans. Discount stores such as Aldi and Lidl have gained market share from big chains, such as Tesco and Sainsbury's, and intend to double their number of stores in the UK. In response, established chains have scaled back expansion of big branches, focusing on smaller convenience stores where margins are higher. There are also larger projects in the pipeline, including a £440m redevelopment of Westgate in Oxford, the £200m Bracknell town centre scheme and a £lbn redevelopment of Croydon's shopping centre from 2016. Due to this pipeline, the CPA forecasts that retail construction will rise 9% by 2017.