Spring fashion and cross-shopping trends drive standout performance at Eldon Square

New data from Eldon Square has revealed strong engagement with fashion and lifestyle shopping categories this spring, with April total centre sales rising +4.5 percent year-on-year (+1.3 percent like-for-like). The performance significantly outpaced national retail trends, despite UK in-store non-food sales declining -4.0 percent during the same period, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The strong sales performance was mirrored by footfall growth across the centre, with Eldon Square recording a +6.7 percent year-on-year uplift during its Spring Summer Fashion (SSF) campaign period (1st April – 17th May). This contrasted with national UK footfall trends, which fell -10.7 percent overall and -10.1 percent across shopping centres, further highlighting Eldon Square’s destination appeal.

Fashion and lifestyle categories were among the strongest performers throughout the period, driven by seasonal wardrobe refresh shopping and increased engagement with Eldon Square’s Spring Summer Fashion campaign, which saw a local creator front a multi-channel creative campaign spanning digital, social, press, and out-of-home activity across the city.

Womenswear also saw strong year-on-year growth at +16.3 percent, reflecting increased spending across the category as shoppers explored both established and newly opened fashion brands such as River Island, H&M and NEXT, in line with the campaign. Mixed fashion (+2.3 percent), accessories (+3 percent) and health & beauty (+2 percent) all recorded positive year-on-year and like-for-like growth, further reinforcing the strength of cross-category shopping behaviour during the spring period.

Additionally, sportswear and outdoors emerged as one of the strongest-performing categories, delivering a significant +23.9 percent uplift year-on-year and like-for-like, highlighting continued demand for athleisure and outdoor lifestyle brands such as Foot Locker and Skechers, providing shoppers refreshed wardrobes for the new season.

Alongside key categories, seasonal trading moments delivered particularly strong results, with the 16-day half-term period from 4 – 19 April recording +4.9 percent year-on-year growth. Easter Bank Holiday weekend performance was exceptionally strong, with sales up +16.1 percent compared to last Easter. Easter activations helped drive this, including Eldon Square’s Easter Reading Corner, which offered an interactive experience for visitors during the school holidays and complemented the wider spring campaign.

Helen Cowie, Centre Director at Eldon Square, said: “These results reflect Eldon Square’s continued success in creating destination-led shopping experiences that encourage visitors to shop across multiple categories during key seasonal moments. Our Spring Summer Fashion campaign has played an important role in driving engagement this season, showcasing the breadth of fashion and lifestyle brands available at Eldon Square while connecting with customers through locally relevant campaign creative, driving further footfall and engagement across the scheme during the campaign period.”