Remember 1976? Shops closed early one day a week, Chelsea Girl was the height of fashion and Leslie Crowther wooed television audiences nationwide by plugging a £21.50 reed organ in the Wonder of Woolworths advertising campaign.
It was also the year that Britain's first shopping centre opened in Brent Cross, North London, transforming the way in which people shopped. Ratners, Peter Robinson and Minns Music were among the attractions, and the “food court” consisted of Lindy's Boulevard Café - complete with china plates and waiter service.
Fast forward three decades and another revolution is taking place. Unprecedented numbers of international retailers, from America to Russia, are coming to Britain and are going toe-to-toe with some of our biggest brands.
Banana Republic and Abercrombie & Fitch are two of the high-profile additions to London's West End this year. Ferrari will defy the credit crunch and open on Regent Street, down the road from National Geographic's first store anywhere in the world, which promises to break the mould with a “unique concept”, full of outdoor clothing, DVDs and travel books.
David Kenningham, executive director retail of CBRE, the property company, said: “The demand from international retailers has been building for some time, but it's now at the highest level we have ever seen.”
The step change in the number of foreign invaders, following in the wake of pioneers such as Benetton, Ikea and Zara, reflects the increasing globalisation of the retail market.
It works both ways: Tesco is one of the world's biggest supermarket groups, operating stores in a dozen countries from Thailand to Poland. Mothercare has stores across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and, most recently, in China. Yet Britain is seen as a key destination for overseas groups looking to expand, not only because of the lure of London's revamped West End, where tourists spend £3billion on shopping each year, but also because of the new generation of shopping centres transforming the landscape beyond the capital.
Retail parks in cities such as Bristol and Liverpool are beginning to attract Spanish, Scandinavian and East European retailers to the regions. Wild Orchid, the Russian lingerie group, opened under the Vendetta fascia in Bluewater, Kent, last year. Six retailers will open their first British store at Westfield White City this month, including Etincelle, of France, and Yamamay, the Italian lingerie retailer. While the credit crunch is threatening to hit consumer spending for much of next year, the global slowdown has led to commercial property values falling by nearly 25 per cent in the past 16 months, handing retailers the opportunity to secure space at a discount so that they are in position for when the market improves.
Sales densities are also higher in Britain - £1,000 a square foot at Brent Cross - than elsewhere in Europe or the United States, meaning that retailers should get more bang for their buck if their concept proves successful.
David Atkins, managing director for UK retail with Hammerson, the shopping centre developer, said: “I remember shopping at Brent Cross after it opened - I was still in shorts then - and if you said then what was going to happen in 30 years' time I wouldn't have believed it.
“International retailers tend to come to London to test their format and then push out, and we are definitely seeing more [of that] in the regions. We just opened in Leicester. Around 70 per cent of the stores are new to the city and a number are international.
“The trend we are seeing is only likely to continue and - who knows? - one day soon we may even see a retailer from the Far East, China or India coming here.
