McArthurGlen Group is the leading developer, owner and manager of designer outlets in Europe. Gary Bond, Chief Executive of McArthurGlen Development, talks to RLI about the Group’s new openings, extensions and plans for the future.
McArthurGlen Group partners with the world’s leading brands to create attractive designer outlet villages in Europe that offer savings of 30-70 per cent all year round to over 75 million consumers each year. To date, there are 20 McArthurGlen Designer Outlets covering a retail space of more than 500,000 sqm.
Earlier this year, in June, McArthurGlen opened its 20th Designer Outlet, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Athens and, despite challenging times, the new centre is performing very well. Bond said: “McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Athens is trading above our expectations, demonstrating that, despite the news headlines of economic woes, our business model works.”
McArthurGlen has also added a further phase to the Global RLI Award winning La Reggia Designer Outlet near Naples, where the first phase opened in February 2010. Bond added: “We opened phase 2B at the end of September and now we will move straight on to a third and a fourth phase, which will bring the centre to 30-40,000 sqm of retail space in a few years’ time.”
In 2012, McArthurGlen will open the Group’s 21st Designer Outlet in Neumunster, near Hamburg, Germany. New phases will also open at Veneto Designer Outlet near Venice, Castel Romano Designer Outlet near Rome and Barberino Designer Outlet near Florence. There are also plans for a fourth phase at Designer Outlet Roermond, in the Netherlands, while Designer Outlet Parndorf near Vienna opened its fourth phase this September.
In addition, McArthurGlen has two further projects underway in France; both of which are progressing well through the planning approval system.
Bond adds: “There is demand for additional phases at our existing McArthurGlen centres so we are working on a series of expansions as well as on new pipeline projects. Our model has always been to open one or two new centres and a couple of extensions a year and that pace of development has continued over the last 17 years, since we opened Europe’s first designer outlet, Cheshire Oaks in the UK.”
When asked what sets McArthurGlen apart from the competition, Bond says it’s the Group’s attention to detail, quality of design and standard of development.
“Our ability to create luxury piazzas, great shopping environments and to bring in top brands is unique to McArthurGlen. We also have a wider mix of brands than other operators in Europe and we are very particular about our locations. We are always looking at the details and the quality of our centres. We are constantly trying to improve the environment and the atmosphere for consumers, not only in terms of the retail offer but also the restaurants, leisure, landscaping, customer service, and the facilities, including parking. We want a visit to a McArthurGlen Designer Outlet to be a good-fun, high-quality day out.”
For the full article, please see the October 2011 issue.
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