As a next step in its determined effort to bring outlets to emerging and unsaturated markets, TORG International has just forged an alliance with leading UK outlet developer Rioja Estates. This positions TORG International and their new partners as one of the largest independent outlet developers in the UK/European market and beyond.
In a first step, two active outlet projects under development by Rioja Estates will be jointly marketed and leased – Malmö Designer Village in Southern Sweden and Grantham Designer Outlet Village in the UK.
Says Robert van den Heuvel, Partner Development & Leasing TORG International: “It was at Mapic 2021 that we established this new collaboration with Giles Membrey and his team at Rioja Estates, whom we have known for many years. We were impressed by the quality of their two latest developments in Sweden and the UK and are therefore delighted to be able to share our enthusiasm with the tenant community and industry at large.“
Adds Barbara Horatz, Partner Marketing & Retail TORG International: “We feel that both developments meet all the key criteria for a successful future outlet – strategic location on a major motorway axis, important catchment, strong tourism potential, significant size, qualitative and sustainable architecture. There are not many strategic spots left in Europe for outlet developments and we definitely consider Malmö and Grantham as two of them.”
Both schemes have planning consent, Grantham is under construction and will open in Autumn 2023, Malmö is planning an opening in Summer 2025.
Serving the cross-border catchment of Southern Sweden and Denmark, Malmö Designer Village benefits from a huge and wealthy catchment. It is aiming to become the #1 outlet in Scandinavia. Malmö Designer Village is expected to rank in the top 25% of outlet centres in Europe in terms of traffic and is predicted to generate above average sales densities.
Located at the heart of the UK, Grantham Designer Outlet Village is located on the country’s third most travelled motorway, the A1 connecting London with Northern England. With a significant catchment of 3.75 million within 60minutes, it is projected to attract 3.5million visitors annually. A lack of retail competition in the immediate area means that Grantham Designer Outlet Village will achieve a significantly greater penetration of its catchment than the UK outlet industry average of 3%, namely for Phase One 7.7% and for Phase Two 8.5%.
Concludes Giles Membrey: “We see Malmö and Grantham as the beginning of a great collaboration for our two companies – there are many more opportunities for joint outlet developments that we see ahead of us and that we are already discussing, be it in Europe or in any of the other major markets globally.”
