New York best for conventional fashion retailers

With cities being used by fashion companies as the cornerstone to map out their expansion plans, scoring 625 out of 1,000 points, New York is currently the world’s best city for conventional retailers, says a recent report. Los Angeles takes the runner-up spot with 556 points, while Singapore completes the podium at the third place with a score of 548.

The Hot Retail Cities report has provided an inaugural list of the world's 100 most attractive cities for retail based on around 50 criteria measuring their economic, commercial, political and cultural landscapes. This first edition has found that New York offers an ideal location based on its socio-economic, demographic and political factors, as well as its tourist appeal and the quality of its infrastructure, among other points that all have an impact on retailers everywhere.

The remainder of the top 10 hottest cities for retailers is rounded off by San Francisco, with 540 points, Chicago (538), Hong Kong (534), Boston (531), Tokyo (530), Shanghai (518) and London (513). The report drafted by Modaes.es and fostered by Tendam – one of Europe’s leading fashion retailers operating in the premium mass market brand segment and owner of Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield, women’secret and Fifty – in collaboration with the Instituto de Empresa, details the importance of the conditions in a city for retailers' strategic expansion decisions, as well as listing the world's 100 most attractive retail cities in 2018.

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The mission of Hot Retail Cities is to help fashion companies better understand where they operate and where they could set up shop going forward. The report provides an analysis detailing the retail conditions in 100 cities around the globe. Based on these characteristics, the report measures each city’s degree of merit for conventional retailers.

"Spain represents a benchmark for fashion and internationalisation, and we must continue to lead the retail sector in a constantly changing world," said Tendam CEO Jaume Miquel.

Demographics, the economy, politics, the socio-economic landscape, tourism, retail, fashion and trendiness represent the eight major areas analysed to give a score to these urban areas, underpinned by criteria such as population, wealth, GDP growth, minimum wage, tax barriers, airport passenger traffic, tourist figures and the entrepreneurial climate. The different indicators, taken from a wide range of renowned public and private sources (from the World Economic Forum to the United Nations and Heritage Foundation), are weighted according to their direct influence on retail activity, with the scores then apportioned accordingly. Based on the above, Hot Retail Cities has ranked the best 100 cities for conventional retailers from the circa 150 cities analysed.

"Retailers are faced with the challenge of serving a global market with local tastes. Their success in ultimately establishing a footprint within a certain market will depend on how well they analyse the local landscape," Eduardo Ruiz, director of PD Retail at the Instituto de Empresa, said.

"The hope is that this tool, which offers great insight into all aspects and trends to identify the hottest retail cities, will become a key driver over time to optimise each city’s retailing conditions," Pilar Riaño, director at Modaes.es, said.