CSC to rebrand Trafford Centre with Intu title
Capital Shopping Centres, owner of the Trafford Centre, is to rename all of its 14 shopping malls in an attempt to create a consumer-facing brand.
As of next month, CSC will be known as Intu Properties. The rebrand is part of a £25m investment aimed at tackling the impact of shoppers opting to spend online rather than in store.
The move includes the installation of a new fibre optic network for every shopping centre, provision of free WiFi throughout the malls, and the launch of intu.co.uk – a transactional, fashion-focused, mobile-enabled website.
The landlord revealed that £7m will be spent on the brand creation and roll out, £8m on digital infrastructure and a further £10m on the acquisition and start-up phase of intu.co.uk. CSC will use its new website to sell the products of shops in its centres, taking a 10% commission on all sales.
CSC will change its name to Intu Properties PLC on 18 February before the Trafford Centre launches its free WiFi in March. The new eCommerce site, intu.co.uk, will be launched in April.
From May, the intu brand and visual identity will be rolled out across all centres in the form of physical signage, enhanced customer service desk facilities and national consumer activity commencing with a launch event.
David Fischel, chief executive of CSC, said: "With over half the UK population visiting our shopping centres each year, we have the scale to seize the opportunities provided by the changes in the retail marketplace.
"We are investing £25m in digital infrastructure, an eCommerce website and a new brand. We very much look forward to implementing the initiatives announced, which mark an exciting next phase in the evolution of our market-leading UK shopping centre business, to the benefit of customers, retailers, staff and investors."
They can try but it’ll always be known as the Traffic Centor to me
By Fernando
What an absolute waste of money, they would be better inviting corporate sponsors for their malls and using this huge sum to get infrastructure investment such as a train/metro link for the Trafford centre. The public will never take to bizarre newly created brands such as ‘Intu’ it means ‘sod all’ to anyone! I assume a firm of consultants has been paid an absolute fortune to dream this one up! CSC – you’ve been mugged!
By Andy Shute
I’ll never be into INTU
By Desmond Tutu
Fair play to CSC. its Nice to see a bit of innovative thinking in the property world!
By Bill Pipe
If this is brick’n’mortar’s response to online, then online has won.
By Eddie
I agree with Andy, what is in a name when it comes to shopping. All people really care about are the shops, the surroundings and transport links to and from the shops. I also believe it is a waste of money when it could be spent on something more advantageous to the shoppers
By Mike P
So it is "aimed at tackling the impact of shoppers opting to spend online rather than in store" whilst creating a website to sell the shops’ wares????
By Pablo