Play stations

Children's facilities are a great way to drive footfall and utilise empty space in retail developments.

There is a clear business case why they work: children obviously like them, but so do their parents and grandparents as they get more time to shop and/or relax, thus increasing dwell times and visitor frequency. Just as importantly, soft play facilities in particular, tend to have relatively low fixtures and fittings costs.

Shopping centres
Children's facilities can be both permanent features, such as creches, play spaces and Disney-themed cafes. They can also be seasonal and temporary experiences, such as Harrods' popular Santa's Grotto and pop-ups during half-term breaks. Good examples include the Sea Life Play Centre in Marlands Shopping Centre in Southampton (a 10,000 sq ft area fitted with two separate soft play structures), and 360 Play in Redditch. This includes a two-storey indoor play frame, a role-play zone, messy play area, padded toddler zone, and a cafe.

Beyond the benefits for operators and asset managers, there is also a social benefit, of repurposing empty units. For instance, Legal & General's The Beacon in Eastbourne has a Seaside Soft Play next to a Jojo Maman Bebe, while their centre in Bishop's Stortford has converted an empty unit into a Ping Pong Parlour.

Such spaces can also be utilised to enable commercial property owners to do their part to improve education, employability and entrepreneurship for young people. For instance, alongside Code Club and Stemettes, Coder Dojo is a global, volunteer-led movement of community-based programming clubs for children and young people, where they can learn to code, build websites, create apps and games. Microsoft's flagship store hosts one every week, while Apple host their own Apple Summer Camps in their stores.

Leisure activities
intu partners with leisure operators to broaden its shopping centres' appeal. Examples include LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and Sea Life in intu Trafford Centre and Nickelodeon Adventure Lakeside – their first UK shopping centre attraction. The success of KidZania, the worldwide soft play phenomenon with 28 facilities across the world, including a 75,000sqft child-size city in London’s Westfield, is driven by its appeal to over 9 million visitors in its sites across 21 countries per year.

However, leisure spaces also need to offer a clear point of difference. For instance, XScape in Junction 32, Yorkshire, offers a range of adventurous activities for children, with an indoor Snozone, urban climbing, laser tag, adventure golf, and virtual reality gaming. Further, W5 at the Odyssey in Belfast is an award-winning science and discovery centre with over 250 interactive exhibits over five levels, where visitors can be immersed in their `AMAZE' technological space, scale `Climbit' (seen above), and meet a humanoid robot `Robothespian'.

However, beyond questions about conversion, landlords, investors and asset managers need the conviction to commit to investing in children's activities in their spaces and centres, and to recognise the value for their assets, their communities, and their customers.

Samuel Gebreselassie