SHOPPING centres throughout Scotland have reported a positive 2012, with some seeing a year-on-year increase in visitors.
Despite tough economic conditions, footfall at Glasgow's St Enoch Centre increased by 5% in 2012, while Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh also saw shopper numbers increase above average figures for Scotland.
Glasgow's Buchanan Galleries experienced a good second half of the year, while the Bon Accord & St Nicholas Centre in Aberdeen said the feel-good factor of the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee had proved positive for the centre.
Susan Nicol, general manager of the St Enoch Centre, which underwent a £150 million revamp in 2011, said the shopping destination had welcomed its twenty-millionth visitor following a bumper 2012.
She added: "The retail sector is facing a number of challenges in the current economic climate and it's important to adopt a flexible approach to the market and to your overall customer strategy.
"Over the last couple of years we have worked hard to achieve an innovative retail mix and offer added value to our shoppers, whether they are visiting for the first time or rediscovering us after our redevelopment.
"We will continue to utilise our position in 2013 to bring new retail offerings, shopping opportunities and community engagement initiatives to the people of Glasgow and beyond."
Dennis Jones, manager of Ocean Terminal, said the centre's leisure outlets performed particularly well last year.
He said: "Our overall footfall for 2012 was above the regional Scottish average so we were pleased with that, but more importantly, our sales also held up okay.
"We have more leisure services than most shopping centres, with a Vue cinema, several restaurants, a gym and a spa, and our leisure category did quite well.
"This is an area that seems to be pretty resilient, pretty much because if people want to watch the latest movie or go for a workout they have to go out and do it instead of doing it online."
He added that the centre's retail outlets had mixed results from brand to brand.
Mr Jones said the centre will undergo some developmentthis year in a bid to drive business up even further.
Buchanan Galleries centre manager Kathy Murdoch said: "Looking back on 2012, Buchanan Galleries performed well, particularly in the second half of the year when we were thrilled to welcome a raft of new retailers including Joy, Yankee Scotland and Crocs, all of which are unique to the centre and the city.
"Trading was steady in the lead-up to Christmas and the centre has had a busy festive period with the sales still being enjoyed by visitors."
Craig Stevenson, manager of the Bon Accord Centre, said the summer months were particularly busy for the shopping mall.
He said: "Last year trading started off well and it picked up momentum as we approached the summer months.
"The Jubilee and Olympics were particularly good for the centre, and that positive boost continued right through until November."
Mr Stevenson added: "We had a good Christmas period as well and all the sales are now fully under way, and shoppers continue to snap up bargains throughout the centre."
Meanwhile, clothing retailer Next posted a 3.9% rise in sales for November and December in the face of tough trading conditions.
Its shares opened 4% higher after the chain said the festive performance meant it was on track for profits growth at the top end of expectations.
Chief executive Simon Wolfson said: "On balance, we expect the consumer environment to remain subdued but steady."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article