Latest news with #BelindaClur
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Clur Index: Small retail centres lead growth stakes in South Africa
According to the latest Clur Shopping Centre Index, community and smaller retail centres led the growth stakes in the first quarter of 2025. Along with these centres, super-regional malls and the Western Cape were top performers for the quarter, said Belinda Clur, managing director of Clur International, which produces the index. 'The outperformance of community and smaller centres points to a shift in the consumer value system,' said Clur. She positions the market as a Belief Economy, with the Attention Economy fading out. 'Meaningful values are now prioritised over excessive exposure, and trusted emotional and human connection is the new currency. This is a critical backdrop for future shopping centre and business strategies. 'The national Clur Index for Q1 outperformed March 2025 CPI and saw growth relative to December 2024, in both annualised trading density and base rentals,' she said. 'The rent-to-sales ratio maintained its lowest level over five years, indicating continued stability and reduced market risk.' The index is derived from the Clur Collective, an asset management industry standard and economic indicator, now tracking performance at more than 5.4 million square metres across over 130 shopping centres in South Africa and Namibia. The platform helps listed and unlisted property funds to understand asset health and optimise returns. 'Over the quarter, all measured shopping centre segments outperformed Mar '25 CPI,' said Clur. 'But it was the community and smaller centres that showed the highest y/y% growth rate of 5.1%, beating CPI by 2.4% and expanding by 1.4% relative to Dec '24. Small regional centres followed at 3.6%, beating CPI by 0.9%. Regional centres showed the next highest growth expansion of 0.9% relative to Dec '24. 'The national Clur Index closed Q1 '25 with an annualised trading density of R41,162/sqm and y/y% growth of 3.4%. This outperformed Mar '25 CPI by 0.7% and showed an expansion of 0.4% relative to the 2024 year. Super regional centres showed the highest trading density of R50,440/sqm, followed by community and smaller centres at R46,564/sqm.' In rental performance, community and smaller centres showed the highest y/y% growth rate of 5.0%, beating CPI by 2.3%. Regional centres followed at 4.9%, beating CPI by 2.2%. The national Clur Index for Base Rent closed Q1 '25 at R233.10/ sqm and y/y% growth of 3.4%. This outperformed Mar '25 CPI by 0.7% and showed an expansion of 0.1% relative to Dec '24. Super regional centres showed the highest rentals of R314.23/sqm, followed by regional centres at R227.48/sqm. Super regional centre rentals grew by 2.6% y/y, underperforming CPI by -0.1%. Clur said the Western Cape showed the strongest rental performance of the key three provinces of R256.22/sqm and y/y% growth of 6.2%, beating CPI by 3.5%. KwaZulu-Natal was second, at R238.53/sqm, growing by 2.5% y/y. Gauteng's y/y% growth rate was 2.4%, underpinned by a rental of R233.17/sqm. The national Clur Index Base Rent to Sales ratio closed Q1 '25 at 6.6% and stable y/y% growth. 'The market has not deviated from this level since late '23, indicating an ongoing position of stability and reduced market risk against the volatility of the last five years,' said Clur. Super regional centres showed the highest rent to sales ratio of 7.2%, whereas community and smaller centres showed the lowest level of 4.8%. The Western Cape showed the lowest rent to sales ratio of the key three provinces at 6.1%, with Gauteng showing the highest at 6.9%. Clur says: 'Trust, social connection and greater good are key elements of the new Belief Economy. These elements are evident in the growing theme of social impact retail in South Africa, which takes products and services to underserved communities. 'The Belief Economy is also evidenced through substantial growth and interest in the pre-loved second-hand and refurbished market, storytelling, the need for transparent provenance of product supply chains, as well as plant-based and organic segments becoming more mainstream shopper categories.' Clur said the Attention Economy was based on seduction via aggressive broad-based promotional activity on social media platforms that was mostly unashamedly brash and often dishonest. 'However, consumers have outgrown the superficial, 'in your face' quality that this embodied and now crave something real. The associated 'less is more' approach of the Belief Economy ties in with new thinking on luxury now being defined by peace and minimalism. 'Integrity and well-intentioned principles are cornerstones of a new language that resonates with consumers. In this case, a deep emotional connection is essential to attracting consumers and stimulating their desire to engage and spend. 'Additionally, there is a focus on global wellness and philanthropy. Strategies that stir emotional resonance through important themes such as climate change, empathy, animal welfare, inclusivity, ethics, responsible tech and circular economies are more likely to be successful in the Belief Economy, as emotional and altruistic touchpoints inspire change. 'This desired consumer sentiment seeks human medicine via physical, social, and community interactions. Therefore, shopping centre strategies should focus on human connection as an overarching theme.' Clur said this emotional and human currency was also based on a growing loneliness pandemic with global rising rates of single person dwellings and dropping fertility rates. Within this context, whilst social media platforms sell connection, this was often a mirage without substance. 'The Belief Economy further embodies a well-intentioned future skills set including adaptability, critical thinking, leading with impact, emotional intelligence, tactical ideas and solutions, personal development and tech savviness. All of these are key themes that shopping centres and businesses need to consider.' All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
19-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Clur Index S2024 ends on a high note for SA's shopping centres
South African retail property has emerged from 2024 in a healthy position which bodes well for the future, according to the Clur Shopping Centre Index. The index for 2024 and its last quarter showed the year ended on a positive note, with growth in trading densities and rentals, and further entrenchment of the lowest rent-to-sales ratio in five years. 'This reflects the improvement in economic fundamentals during the year,' says Belinda Clur, managing director of Clur International which produces the index. The index is derived from the Clur Collective, an asset management industry standard and economic indicator, now tracking performance at more than 5.4 million square metres across over 130 shopping centres in South Africa and Namibia. The platform helps listed and unlisted property funds to understand asset health and optimise returns. Clur says that unwrapping festive season dynamics from the last quarter show a stronger November than December trading growth position. 'The year also saw a significant shift with smaller centres of less than 50,000 square metres now dominating the growth position of the industry. 'The industry's state of health seems to mirror the current consumer attitude towards wellness. We have, since Covid, seen an evolution from personal wellness to broader community and global wellness, and we now see this extending to a financial and mental wellness position. This is one of the most important and defining trends that needs to be considered in contemporary shopping centre strategy.' Clur says the 2024 national Index for All Centres closed with an annualised trading density of R40,724 /sqm and y/y% growth of 3.5%. This was a contraction of -1.3% relative to FY '23, but a 0.7% expansion versus Q3 '24. This growth out-performed Dec '24's CPI by 0.5% but under-performed '24's annual CPI by -0.9%. The December '24 Clur Index for All Centres closed with a base rent/ sqm of R232.65 and y/y% growth of 3.6%. This growth outperformed December 2024's CPI by 0.6%. An annualised rent-to-sales ratio of 6.6% in the full-year Index for All Centres matched the figure for 2023. 'The continuation of this lowest rent-to-sales ratio over five years indicates stability and that the reduced level of risk has been maintained,' says Clur. Highest trading densities were shown by the two size extremes of super-regional centres, at R50,129/ sqm, and community and smaller centres at R45,698/ sqm. The highest y/y% growth was by small regional centres at 5.6%, followed by community and smaller centres at 3.7% and super-regionals at 3.1%. Small regional centres were the only segment to expand trading density growth, achieving 2.7% versus FY '23. Super-regional centres had the greatest contraction of -3.1% versus FY '23 with the All Centres Index expanding by 0.5% for the same period. The Western Cape was the top performer of the three key provinces, with an annualised trading density of R46,691/ sqm and y/y% growth of 4.8%, out-performing Dec '24's CPI by 1.8% and '24's annual CPI by 0.4%. KwaZulu-Natal showed the next highest trading density of R43,314/ sqm with positive y/y growth of 1.7%, and is the only province to show a growth expansion relative to FY '23 of 4.3%. Gauteng had the lowest trading density of the three provinces, at R39,136/ sqm, with the second highest y/y growth rate of 4.1%. 'The combined November and December festive season showed better trading density and growth than the rest of 2024,' says Clur. For these two months the All Centres Index annualised trading density was R55,844/sqm and growth was 6.2% y/y. The rest of the year (Jan – Oct 2024) traded at R37,705/ sqm with 2.8% y/y growth. Super-regionals saw the highest combined festive season trading density of R71,128/ sqm, while small regional centres had the highest growth rate of 9.2%, expanding by 6.6% relative to 2023. 'Considering November and December performance independently shows that December delivered the higher trading densities, but November delivered the higher growth rates, in contrast to 2023 when December put Black Friday in the shade on both counts.' The December '24 Clur Index for All Centres closed with an annualised trading density of R65,030/sqm and y/y% growth of 4.5%, with super-regionals hitting the highest trading densities of R84,230/sqm. They were followed by community and smaller centres at R65,165/sqm. However, small regionals had the highest y/y% growth of 9.4%, followed by community and smaller centres at 5.3%. Small regionals outperformed CPI by 6.4% and were the only segment to expand relative to Dec '23 by 4.1%. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest trading density across the three key provinces of R76,119/sqm for December 2024. It also showed the highest y/y% growth of 8.6%, outperforming CPI by 5.6% and was the only province to expand relative to Dec '23 by 8.6%. 'This reinforces the importance of the December summer holiday tourism season to the economy of the province,' says Clur. The November '24 Clur Index for All Centres closed with an annualised trading density of R46,755/sqm and y/y% growth of 9.1%. Super-regionals hit the highest trading densities of R58,236/ sqm, followed by community and smaller centres at R50,675/sqm. Highest growth rates were achieved by community and smaller centres at 10.2%, out-performing CPI by 7.3%. Small regionals had the next highest growth rate of 9.3% , expanding the most by 9.9% relative to Nov '23. The Western Cape had the highest trading density across the three key provinces, of R53,439/sqm for November 2024. It also had the highest y/y% growth of 10.2%, outperforming CPI by 7.3%. KwaZulu-Natal had the next highest trading density at R48,727/sqm, and Gauteng the next highest growth rate of 9.3%. KwaZulu Natal showed an exceptional expansion of 16.6% relative to Dec '23. 'This performance bodes well for the shopping centre industry as we embark on the year ahead.'
