Eye Reporter
Adrienne Jones joined, Milligan, a specialist retail property development and asset management company, when it was set up in 2002, as Head of Research. On leaving university she worked in retail management and store location for Sainsbury’s before joining Jones Lang LaSalle’s research and leasing teams where she worked on new concepts such as outlet centres, spotted gaps in the market and created tenant mix strategies. Her career also includes consumer research for Mars and Black & Decker.
What are the touch-points that have made the Milligan story of “inspiring retail” relevant?
Every place Milligan creates is a one-off. Each is designed by understanding and focusing on the needs and desires of those who will visit, use and enjoy the space. For example, the central atrium at Metquarter, Liverpool, feels more like the lobby of a quality hotel with a collection of bespoke nine metre tall lanterns which reinforce the feminine aspects of fashion with six pink suede chaise lounges interspersed for fun. As a result, all but one of the 45 tenants, which include Armani Exchange and Hugo Boss, were new to Liverpool, raising the quality of the city’s retail offerings significantly. Throughout we constantly referred back to our target clientele to check we were on track and also worked with a local fashion graduate on regaular fashion shows and design workshops. At The Triangle, Manchester, we worked with Manchester Metropolitan University on a fashion and design awareness campaign, Triangle Exposed, which appealed to both our edgy urban audience and our tenants. In Barcelona, we undertook a major refurbishment and repositioning that transformed Maremagnum from a flagging leisure location into a high-profile fashion and leisure destination, returning the centre to local Barcelonans as well as continuing to appeal to tourists.
What do you think are the main things that customers are seeking in the retail environment?
Shoppers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding. They expect more convenience, more information and more entertainment. In short they want everything! There is a necessity for retailers and retail environments to be more customer-centric and more experiential, with a customer-pull rather than the traditional retail-push model being demanded more in the future. Whilst shoppers are increasingly open to new experiences, potentially this makes them harder to predict. They are looking for increased interaction and participation, a challenge which successful retail formats will have to rise to.
What are some of the latest trends emerging in the retail environment?
We are increasingly seeing the importance of architecture and design in shopping places to meet the demands of visitors to create an experience and a sense of place. With the growth of the internet satisfying much of the market for essentials, shops and retail locations will need to focus on the more emotional purchases of experiential products and services. The provision of retail theatre will not just be the ideal, it will be a necessity. Successful retail locations will have to incorporate quality catering outlets and innovative leisure offerings in vibrant surroundings as part of their retail experience, and getting this formula right will greatly extend the hours of use of the space which in turn will contribute to profitability. By 2010 we will increasingly be living through mobile phones, with this and other new technologies changing how we shop and increasing opportunities for interaction.
Are airports/shopping centres the only environments/destination points that Millgan work with?
Whilst these are obviously exciting and stimulating environments, we certainly don’t see ourselves limited to these areas and have already worked in partnership with Blackstone to revitalise the catering and retail offerings at Centre Pacrs and what is common in each, is our desire to create a positive overall experience. Going forward we are excited by the opportunities which the creation of an urban market might offer, but will consider any environment where there is an opportunity to add vitality to situations with a retail element and which allow the creation of a sense of place.