Westfield London’s £600 million expansion is expected to attract record numbers of international visitors throughout the summer as it unveils the next stage of the development.
The West London-based shopping centre, which opened the first phase of its 740,000sq ft in March, is due to launch both a new Japanese food hall and an outdoor events space in the coming months.
On July 10 it will launch Ichiba, Europe’s biggest Japanese food hall including food, drink, homewares and gifts from Japan.
This will raise the total number of food outlets at the centre to over 80, a 57 per cent growth since its opening a decade ago, driving a food and drink sales rise of 88 per cent.
Later this month it will also open Westfield Square, an outdoor events space which will host various events, starting with a month of music.
This is expected to drive further growth in its international visitors, building on a 2.4 per cent rise in Chinese visitors since the first quarter in 2018.
“The £600 million expansion of Westfield London has allowed us to diversify our offering so that we appeal to more international visitors than ever before,” group director and Europe chief marketing office Myf Ryan said.
“With summer a key moment for tourism we are excited to offer world firsts such as Ichiba and our very own major outdoor entertainment space in Westfield Square, ensuring we continue to be a destination for international visitors.
“This latest investment in Westfield London is testimony to its strength over the past 10 years, with the centre continuing to experience high retail demand for space from luxury, high street and innovative brands looking to house the very latest in retail, dining, leisure and entertainment.”
This comes just weeks after French shopping centre giant Unibail-Rodamco completed its £18.5 billion takeover of Westfield.
The newly formed Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield now boasts a combined estate of 104 shopping centres across 13 different countries, worth an estimated £53 billion, all of which will carry the Westfield brand.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
