Gravity MAX and M&S boost Liverpool ONE’s performance

Grosvenor has revealed the positive impact anchor brands Gravity MAX and M&S have had at Liverpool ONE, the leading retail and entertainment destination, since opening in August in a transformation of the former Debenhams.

Liverpool ONE’s two new flagship stores have generated an impressive uplift in footfall and sales, and encouraged consumers who live further away from the destination to visit:

• Against the UK benchmark, footfall at Liverpool ONE has seen an upwards swing in its favour of 7.9% since Gravity MAX and M&S opened; • Sales on Liverpool ONE’s restaurant terrace, which is opposite Gravity MAX, have risen by 9.6%; • Gravity MAX is attracting more people from the secondary, tertiary and quaternary catchments, with the proportion of spend from each area up 2%, 4% and 1%, respectively, compared to Liverpool ONE’s benchmark performance; • 43% of Gravity’s customers combine their visit with shopping elsewhere in Liverpool ONE; • M&S is playing an equally as important role, attracting significant greater numbers of visitors from the primary catchment than Liverpool ONE’s benchmark (40% versus 31%). Source: Grosvenor analysis, completed in conjunction with CACI

Chris Jukes, Grosvenor’s Director of Liverpool ONE, said: “Our active asset management ensures visitors will always find Liverpool ONE a great place to visit, shop and socialise. We endeavour to be ahead of the curve, anticipating consumers’ needs and wants, and the increased footfall and sales data bear this out. Gravity MAX and M&S opening at Liverpool ONE has had a huge impact, benefitting all of our occupiers and those who have come to visit since August.”

The brands opened in early August in the former Debenhams on South John Street. Gravity occupies the upper two floors in what is its biggest investment to date and its largest site. The £10 million destination at Liverpool ONE showcases 100,000 sq ft of the brand’s newest and most enhanced active experience concept, Gravity MAX.

Michael Harrison, co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Gravity, added: “Our Liverpool ONE Gravity MAX flagship is transforming our business. Its performance has been consistently significantly ahead of our targets from day one. We were encouraged by Grosvenor to be bold, and as such, our confidence is being more than rewarded. Liverpool ONE is the new template for our business, and will lead our growth nationally and internationally.”

M&S, meanwhile, has relocated from its former store in the city centre to the lower two floors, with its Liverpool ONE flagship covering 70,000 sq ft of trading space and offering shoppers a fresh market-style Foodhall, new Clothing, Home & Beauty departments, and the first ever new-look M&S Coffee Shop.

Gravity MAX and M&S are the largest of a total of 25 brands to have opened in Liverpool ONE in 2023. Totalling almost 275,000 sq ft, others include Goldsmiths’ largest showroom to date, new regional flagships for Swarovski and BOSS, Hollister, Gilly Hicks, Sweaty Betty, Space NK, Red Run, TAG Heuer, Bean Coffee Roasters, Joe & the Juice, and Liverpool’s first dedicated esports venue, leveltap. A further 27 brands renewed or regeared this year, equalling almost 105,000 sq ft of space.

In addition, Liverpool ONE has hosted seven pop-ups this year, including On Running and Lounge, (both being their first outside of London), ARNE, Sook and Eurovision, the latter coinciding with Liverpool’s hosting of the international song contest on behalf of Ukraine in May this year.