Puma signs up for LDO, deepens mall's athleisure offer

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 22, 2019

Outlet malls are continuing to show their resilience across Europe as consumers flock to them and they attract the best quality tenants. And Wembley Park’s London Designer Outlet (LDO) has just announced that Puma will be opening a 2,365 sq ft store there.

This will boost its fashion and athleisure line-up, following recent signings including Dune opening its second outlet in London and Moss Bros.

It's no surprise that Puma is set to open there as the location is already a strong destination for sports brands. Labels including Adidas, Converse, Bjorn Borg, Champion, The North Face, Asics, Skechers, Nike and New Balance already have stores there and with every athleisure-focused label that opens, it deepens the mall’s appeal for the athleisure-loving shopper.

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Fouad Gross, General Manager of Puma Retail Europe, highlighted that appeal, saying “Wembley is known worldwide for sports & leisure and is an appealing London destination”.

Importantly, it's the first outlet store for Puma in London and it will offer a wide range of trainers, sneakers, clothing and accessories

The mall is a major shopping and tourist destination and attracts footfall of around 7 million people annually. Other brands there include Superdry, Guess, Gap, Lee Wrangler, Lindt, Sony Centre, Kurt Geiger, Chapelle Jewellery, Clarks, M&S and Beauty Outlet.

This summer, its tax-free sales (that is, sales to visitors from outside the EU) grew 16.3%. And many of them were from key spending groups. The mall’s operators said 30% were Chinese, including from Hong Kong and Taiwan. That’s despite other reports that said overall Chinese tourist spending in the UK fell during the summer months.

But LDO also benefits from more local spending with intense development of office and residential space in the Wembley Park area and nearby creating an ever-larger catchment for the mall. Managed by specialist outlet operator Realm, it’s actually part of a £3 billion transformation of the area by Quintain that’s surrounding the sports and entertainment stadium. And footfall is expected to grow fast.

Wembley Park as a whole is expected to attract more than 20 million visitors a year when complete with £328 million in annual retail spend, that would outstrip London shopping areas such as Camden and Victoria.