CRI听力:UK Olympics Shopping

With a few days left to the start of the London Olympic Games, the race is on for businesses in London to make quick money from the big event.

Westfield Mall, one of Europe's largest urban shopping centers, sits right next door to the Olympic Park on London's eastside.

John Burton, Westfield's director of development, says the shopping center opened last autumn with the Olympics in mind, and the sheer numbers of visitors this summer will put it in a winning spot. He says he's confident the shopping center will have a good financial performance despite the recession in Europe.

"With nearly three-quarters of all the people who will come to Olympics to watch events here, they literally walk through the streets of the shopping center, so to say that our retailers aren't excited would be wrong. What they've got to do now is convince their regular shoppers to keep coming, obviously, but also they've got to turn on a great show. They want to turn on good food. They want to turn on good entertainment."

Westfield talks about growth of roughly six to seven percent over the next year, but most individual businesses are refraining from making pronouncements about Olympic-related increases in sales.

Nicole Hodds, an analyst from Planet Retail, is one of them. She points out that not everyone will benefit from the event.

"Retailers in London are definitely going to benefit more than those elsewhere as the influx of tourists comes in. I think heritage retailers such as Harrods, Selfridges (and) Fortnum and Mason's will definitely benefit the most, and I think grocery retailers are going to benefit from UK consumers, as they stay inside to watch the main events. A lot of them will have their family over, or friends over, and therefore will want alcohol, party food, barbecues. And that's where they'll mainly be spending."

Hodds says regional retailers who rely on spending from tourism might not get a share of the cash being spent in London this summer. One of the biggest factors governing whether people will venture out will be the weather.

Britain's weather is famously temperamental. And with summer just starting, Britons have already experienced drought, deluge and the odd spring heat wave. That's why most people will probably choose stay inside during the summer.

But summer outfit retailers selling umbrellas, rubber boots and waterproof clothing may benefit from stormy weather in the city. A recent trial event at the Olympic Park boosted the coffers of businesses like Ellis Brigham, a British company specializing in outdoor leisurewear. Peter Darch is the company's manager.

"The weather's going to be very, very dependent, so I think if it's bad weather during the Olympics, we can do really well. If it's not so much, then maybe not so much. It's a really hard one to call."

Nicole Hodds says the current economic climate means people may spend during the summer, but tighten their belts when it comes to winter shopping.
Westfield's John Burton agrees and says the Olympics are a short-term blip, whereas good businesses should take a longer view.

"This shopping center is very well placed to be probably the most successful shopping center in all of the UK within a couple of years. We've built this on very sound fundamentals-its public transport, the young population living in east London, the lack of a really great shopping center and leisure and dining areas in east London."

Nevertheless, Burton says the Olympics are a great marketing opportunity, and the race to get people out shopping will be fierce.
 
For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.