Meadowhall is “most dominant” regional supermall in UK says CACI

The giant Meadowhall mall in Sheffield is the “most dominant super regional shopping centre in the UK”, according to a new ranking from people and place data specialist CACI.

The ranking has used a number of catchment spending metrics to measure those that are best at attracting and retaining spend and is particularly interesting coming at a time when the power of so-called supermalls seems to be growing.

Why did Meadowhall come out on top? It “captures 18% of the total purse within its catchment, including online spend”, we’re told. The “retail spend potential sits at nearly £1bn, given its inclusion of cities and towns like Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, and Doncaster, with Meadowhall comfortably better than any of the 13 UK super regional shopping centres at securing that available spend”. 

It sees 16 visits a year on average and an average transaction value of £156, and enjoys “strong customer retention”. 

In close proximity to the M1, it manages to capture half of the 42 million vehicles passing the destination each year, “with unrivalled accessibility across the region”. 

It’s no surprise therefore that it sees strong demand from major retailers, with Sephora due to open this summer, and JD recently announcing its plans to upsize to its second-largest store nationally. The past 12 months has also seen Zara’s significantly upsized flagship, and the new 100,000 sq ft Frasers ‘next-generation’ department store. Some 26 retailers have invested £30 million in their stores in the last 12 months.

Alex McCulloch, Director at CACI, said: “Dominating the catchment is something every destination wants, and this data points to Meadowhall being a super regional in the UK that gives its customers exactly what they want, and that drives loyalty. Loyalty isn’t easy to build and maintain, but with strong leasing that aligns to the consumer, and a focus on elements like safety that make regional malls appealing for so many, these levels of dominance can be held for decades to come.”