Westfield tourists the key as sales leap 17% amid gloom

The Westfield London shopping mall defied the economic gloom in the first half of the year with sales up almost 17 per cent on the same period last year.

The vast Shepherd's Bush shopping centre said it was on track to hit £800 million in takings this year after an unexpectedly large numbers of tourists shopping there.

The Australian property developers behind Westfield say that their second mall — Westfield Stratford City, next to the Olympic Park — is scheduled to open in September 2011 and is already 70 per cent let.

The success of the £1.7 billion Westfield London mall since it opened in the middle of the financial crisis in October 2008 has surprised commentators who feared it might flop.

The pace of sales growth is well ahead of London's retail sector as a whole on nine per cent and many times the national figure of 1.1 per cent.

Michael Gutman, managing director of Westfield UK, said: "Westfield London is continuing to record very strong footfall and sales growth and is set to exceed total sales of £800 million in only its second year of trade. The flagship stores, great design, diverse dining experiences, cinemas and live entertainment are continuing to draw customers from far and wide and the level of tourists at the centre in the summer has been exceptional."

The opening of a 14-screen Vue cinema has helped pull in visitors and is the chain's busiest multiplex in Britain.

Recent new names at the centre include Dior Homme's first stand-alone UK stores, Britain's first branch of Gilly Hicks — an offshoot of youth fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch — and a DKNY store dedicated to menswear.

It has also been suggested this week as a possible site for a magistrates' court to help speed up justice.

Sydney-based Westfield Group, which has 119 malls around the world, made its first net profit in two years — £554 million — compared with a net loss of £408 million a year earlier.