Bricks and mortar still matter: Rebuilding the future of grocery retail and distribution

Adapting pandemic-hit sector to changing customer needs

Supermarkets and other essential retail-anchored property is an asset class that has come of age during the pandemic.

Troubled by the continued decline in other retail property assets such as shopping centres, and questions over the future viability of city offices if people do not return to the workplace, property investors have switched their attention to some of the more niche property sectors, attracted by the ability of their tenants to continue paying rent throughout lockdown. Among these, grocery anchored retail has been one of the strongest performers as many mainstream institutional investors have flocked to the sector during the pandemic. The level of interest has been so intense that NAVs,...