Mike Ashley's Frasers Group just grabbed the Designer Outlet in Swindon, which pulls over three million shoppers annually and sits inside an old railway works building. CEO Michael Murray says owning prime shopping real estate fits their strategy of controlling both the stores and the actual properties where everything happens, and this follows their recent pickup of Scotland's Braehead Shopping Centre.
The outlet previously belonged to LaSalle Investment Management, which only bought the place a couple of years back before flipping it. Frasers keeps stacking shopping centers while running Sports Direct, Game, Jack Wills, and a bunch of other retail chains across the UK. Analysts figure the company wants maximum leverage over rents and tenant decisions while the high street keeps getting hammered.
The outlet previously belonged to LaSalle Investment Management, which only bought the place a couple of years back before flipping it. Frasers keeps stacking shopping centers while running Sports Direct, Game, Jack Wills, and a bunch of other retail chains across the UK. Analysts figure the company wants maximum leverage over rents and tenant decisions while the high street keeps getting hammered.
