2012 Olympics, of Retail Development: Westfield Stratford City is Off to a Fast Start

(All Images Above from Westfield's Website)

Aside from thousands of athletes and visitors, the Olympics bring unprecedented development to the host city. Sports venues, the Olympic Village, infrastructure and transportation improvements are planned years in advance and begin to take shape as the opening day draws near. 

To capitalize on the millions of visitors and the international spotlight the Olympics generate, developers have been equally busy planning and building retail developments to serve those visitors and claim a piece of the economic pie. Visa, in its London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Expenditure and Economic Impact report estimates that the 2012 Olympics could generate in excess of $1 Billion in additional consumer spending and those dollars, pounds, euros, and countless other currencies will be spent lodging, shopping and eating in these strategically placed developments.

More Good Retail Development News From London

(from RAC Magazine)

Here is another interesting article from London talking positively about European Retail Development. Again - they reference the Trinity Leeds project I posted about earlier this week and how this is a good sign of things to come.  It also talks specifically about how supermarkets will continue to lead the way in construction spending for the next year - quoting from the article:


"More than £700 million worth of retail projects started on site during the year to June - with supermarket projects accounting for 69 per cent of these". 


But interestingly it also mentions how Governments will give local municipalities more power to regulate big box stores - including the supermarkets.


Read article here from Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Magazine (yes - I read that one too):

Retail to deliver 'badly-needed growth'