Shopping centres owned by Intu have recorded a year-on-year increase in footfall for the Christmas trading season, bucking downturn trend that affected the high streets.
In the six weeks to January 2 – which takes Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales weekends into account – footfall at Intu‘s shopping centres went up by 1.1 per cent.
In addition, in the week immediately after Christmas footfall was up by 3.1 per cent.
The figures are a contrast to data released by footfall monitor firms Springboard and Ipsos last week which indicated the high street struggled with footfall during the festive season.
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Intu chief executive David Fischel said the new figures proved that customers were attracted to “prime regional centres”.
“Customers are looking for retail destinations that offer the full package – the best brands, great places to eat and socialise and their perfect experience both at Christmas and all year round,” he said.
“With our focus on understanding and then delivering what customers want from their shopping experience, we put on a real festive treat for our customers, who combined their shopping with visits to Santa grottos, virtual reality experiences and enjoying the festive season with friends and family.”
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