The Boulevard in Banbridge is lauding a record-breaking summer in which sales and footfall soared on the back of a raft of new tenants opening at the retail destination, including Ben Sherman.
And it comes as the Hollywood Bowl Group, one of the UK’s fastest growing leisure operators, has confirmed its second location in Northern Ireland, with plans to open at the Boulevard by summer 2025.
Forming part of the Boulevard’s £9 million redevelopment plan, Hollywood Bowl will begin to transform the western part of the outlet, creating a ‘food and entertainment quarter’ spanning 60,000 sq ft.
Boulevard owners Lotus Group said the outlet continued to see a high volume of visitors from both sides of the border over the summer, when the August bank holiday saw a 19% increase on sales and a 5% growth in footfall compared to August 2023. In August as a whole, sales were up 6.7%.
Chris Nelmes, retail director at the Boulevard, said: “This summer has been our best on record, with a staggering increase in sales and footfall from shoppers on both sides of the border.
“We invested more than ever in our summer activities this year for the summer of sport and ensured there was an entertaining programme for our customers to enjoy.
“It is a testament to how the Boulevard and its tenants are performing and the hard work that is going into the scheme, that we are consistently seeing an increase in both sales and footfall.”
Paul McCann, asset manager at Lotus Property, added: “The Boulevard has gone from strength to strength so far this year and this summer has indicated how both the retailer confidence and strong customer loyalty is paramount to the scheme’s success.”
“The range of new and upcoming stores we have here stands true to the strong customer demographics we have built since acquiring the scheme in 2016, providing retailers with the confidence to invest.”
