Edinburgh shopping centre St James Quarter has achieved record-breaking sales in December, bucking wider UK retail trends.
Footfall in the final full week before Christmas rose 7.4% year-on-year, peaking on the 21 December, when it increased by 30% compared to the same day in 2023.
Super Saturday footfall was up 20% on the same period in December 2023, and Black Friday footfall rose by 13% on the previous year, on one of the busiest weekends in St James Quarter’s history, with footfall exceeding 310,000.
St James Quarter, which opened in June 2021, is on track to reach its target of 20 million visitors by the end of 2024 due to a 5% uplift on year-end figures.
The large-scale development boasts an 80-strong retail offering, including brands like Zara, H&M, & Other Stories, and luxury labels such as Hugo Boss and The Kooples. As well as a range of restaurants, bars and cafés, the centre houses an Everyman cinema and Marriott hotel.
Anne Ledgerwood, Estate Director for St James Quarter, said: “We are celebrating an incredible December, which has bucked wider UK retail footfall trends thanks to our dynamic blend of fashion, beauty and hospitality, alongside our most spectacular Christmas programme to date, which captured the magic of the season with a well-crafted calendar of music, dance and interactivity.”
According to Rendle Intelligence and Insights, wider UK footfall in the final week before Christmas was down by 11.4% year-on-year.
The December slowdown can be attributed to ongoing cost-of-living pressures and the convenience of online shopping for busy consumers or those deterred by potentially busy town centres. Data from the Centre for Retail Research has revealed that almost 10,500 UK shops closed for the final time in 2023.
Over the 12-month period, the sector experienced the loss of more than 119,000 jobs. Data from the centre reveals that, by mid-November 2024, over 8,543 stores had already closed, with more than 130,000 retail jobs lost.
