Bannon ConsultancyRetail Pulse2020 – A Rollercoaster Year1st March 2021

COVID Casualties The successive lockdowns and trading restrictions pusheda number of businesses over the edge with UK based retailersmaking up most of the permanent closures reported todate. Closures have been concentrated in the prime High Streetsand larger shopping centres which had the highest representationof UK retailers at the start of 2020.

The biggest casualties so far:Debenhams 11 storesMothercare 14 stores

Despite these closures we do not anticipate long-term vacancy asmost of the units vacated are in prime locations.

It is hard to remember from this vantagepoint, but January and February 2020 weregood for the retail sector with low levels ofvacancy across the market and turnovertracking positively.

Oasis 13 storesArcadia 14 stores

January 2020

April 2020

2020 - A Tale of Four Rollercoasters

Prime High StreetThe big dipper was definitely the High Street. Ireland’s busiest footfalllocations Grafton Street and Henry Street saw the largest and mostprolonged reductions in footfall. The peaks and troughs during theyear were spectacular and not for the faint hearted. The City Centre'sreliance on a combination of shoppers, tourists, students and officeworkers made it particularly exposed to the impact of the COVIDrestrictions.

Fashion Focused SchemesThe second scariest ride was in the large-scale fashion-basedcentres. The more reliant a centre was on fashion, asopposed to convenience retail such as supermarkets toattract customers, the tougher 2020 it experienced. Unlikethe UK the overwhelming majority of shopping centres inIreland have large scale supermarket anchors storesintegrated into their offer.

COVID - Convenience Schemes

Convenience SchemesThe least traumatic ride by far has been theConvenience sector. Whilst footfall dropped significantlyin March 2020 it recovered steadily during the Summerand suffered from a much lower fall in the Autumnlockdown. The level of mandated closures within theseschemes has been much less and concentration on localshopping has helped those that have remained open.

Retail ParksThe Retail Park sector has been the best performer ofthe retail sector. It was least impacted by closures andvacancy levels remain very low. A number of parksactually outperformed 2019 from June onwards. Thelargest development in the Irish retail sector in over adecade actually opened in 2020 in Gateway RetailPark where an additional 10,000 sq.m. of new spacewas added which is 90% let.

Retail Park Footfall

Convenience Scheme Footfall

Hambleden House 19-26 Lower Pembroke

Street Dublin 2

CONTACT

+353 1 647 7900www.bannon.iewww.linkedin.com/company/bannonwww.twitter.com/bannon

PSRA: 001830Disclaimer: This report is published for general information and is not to be relied upon. It is based on material that we believe to bereliable. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, we cannot offer any warranty or guarantee of same. Reproductionof any part of this publication is not permitted in any form without prior written consent from Bannon.

Neil BannonChairmannbannon@bannon.ie

Cillian O’ReillySurveyorcoreilly@bannon.ie

Alex PattersonDivisional Director apatterson@bannon.ie

George ColyerSurveyorgcolyer@bannon.ie

In Summary2020 was a tumultuous year for the retail sector with theconcept of government mandated lockdowns beingimplemented for the first time in modern history.

The impact of this was not consistent across the sector. Theprime High Streets, Grafton Street, Henry Street and PatrickStreet, will grab the headlines but the majority of retail inIreland is made up of Shopping Centres and Retail Parksspread across the country.

Of the 150 Shopping Centres that we monitor across Irelandthe vast majority are classified as Convenience Schemes.We also monitor 62 Retail Parks and their relative resiliencein 2020 will be reflected in lower levels of vacancy andmore robust rental performance than the rest of the marketin 2021.

If you would like further information on the performance ofthe retail sector please feel free to contact one ofBannon's Consultancy & Research Team.