How The Knightsbridge Estate Is Evolving Its Retail Mix For the Modern Consumer

For 2026, shifting consumer expectations continue to underpin a resurgence in physical retail, particularly for high-quality, service-led experiences. Physical stores accounted for 81 percent of personal luxury goods sales in 2025, according to Euromonitor’s World Market for Luxury Goods report.

However, retailers are also strategically consolidating and optimising retail portfolios in today’s economic climate, with a focus on fewer but carefully assessed stores to account for rising costs and a more selective consumer base. As such, optimising new bricks-and-mortar locations remains a central focus as brands reassess how and where they engage customers.

In London, The Knightsbridge Estate — located between department stores Harrods and Harvey Nichols, and bounded by Sloane Street and Brompton Road — is enhancing its retail and public-realm experience, to boost its offering for its global brand mix and capture consumers in or visiting the UK’s capital.

The estate’s long-term approach to investment and leasing has played a central role in shaping the area’s performance: according to the estate, the district attracted over 40 million visitors in 2025 — and a wave of high-profile new brand tenants to capture this footfall.

In 2025, Dolce and Gabbana relocated to a prominent 5,000-square-foot unit on Sloane Street, while Alo Yoga and Coach both opened stores on Brompton Road. Openings planned for early 2026 include Dutch luxury lifestyle brand Aurélien’s first UK store and Swiss sportswear brand On, which will inhabit a 7,500-square-foot site.

The Knightsbridge Estate’s recent leasing allocations reflect its strategic focus on assembling a balanced mix of established luxury and high-performing global brands alongside selected newer industry players — to reinforce the district’s position as a high-value retail destination.

Meanwhile, its management philosophy is centred on stewardship: prioritising careful curation, long-term tenant relationships and the sustained quality of the 3.5-acre estate. Global real estate firm Colliers reports average transactions in the area at 2.8x higher than the London retail average.

As part of its stewardship-led approach, the estate continues to invest in redevelopment to strengthen the district’s long-term retail and public-realm offer. A cornerstone of this strategy is K1, a new mixed-use development that has delivered seven flagship retail units, 67,000 square feet of Grade-A office space, new destination dining and 33 luxury apartments.

BoF speaks with Tom Woolven of The Knightsbridge Estate about the strategy behind this leasing activity and the estate’s broader outlook.

What is driving sustained demand for physical retail space in London’s Knightsbridge area?

Today’s customers are increasingly discerning. With online shopping offering speed and convenience, physical destinations need to be more compelling. This involves curating an exceptional retail experience that includes brands with an enduring appeal alongside other crucial elements, such as high quality food and beverage offerings.

Retailers are growing increasingly selective, consolidating portfolios and focusing on fewer, better-performing locations. Decisions are increasingly data-led, with brands gravitating towards places they know their customers already want to spend their time.

For The Knightsbridge Estate, sustained demand for retail space reflects a combination of strong footfall, resilient spending and an international audience. These fundamentals have driven consistent demand from some of the most relevant and exciting global brands across luxury, lifestyle and sportswear.

What consumer behaviour shift in recent years has most heavily influenced your leasing strategy?

For us, the priority is distinguishing passing trends from deeper behavioural shifts.

Today’s consumer moves fluidly between categories, informing how The Knightsbridge Estate curates its mix. This is most evident on Brompton Road, where premium brands sit alongside high-street names: for instance, Zara, at a more accessible price point, still appeals to many luxury shoppers — and has resulted in the brand extending its commitment to the estate. Such a blend allows customers to experience retail offerings they can’t find elsewhere in the country.

Overall, customers are more informed and intentional. With the growing prominence of wellness comes the increase in self-care and experience-led health concepts — reflecting how consumers are more health-conscious. At the same time, beauty and athleisure continue to perform strongly, with Space NK now found alongside more recent signings such as Alo and On.

With the growing number of new entrants and more innovative wellness formats on the market, The Knightsbridge Estate is actively exploring how best to accommodate these uses. This includes the creation of larger, more flexible spaces for membership-based health and wellness concepts that can serve residents, officer occupiers and visitors alike. A newly created 6,000-square-foot unit with access from Basil Street has been specifically designed with these uses in mind.

How do you balance the needs and expectations of local consumers versus tourists when shaping the estate’s retail and lifestyle offering?

Knightsbridge is both a local neighbourhood and a destination. The scheme and its surrounding areas include offices, luxury homes and hotels alongside world-class retail — and the tenant mix at The Knightsbridge Estate has been curated to serve all these audiences.

That balance informs decisions across leasing and public realm investment. Day-to-day usability matters as much as attracting footfall, and The Knightsbridge Estate is designed to feel welcoming and functional for those who live and work nearby, as well as for visitors.

For us, the priority is distinguishing passing trends from deeper behavioural shifts.

Investment is approached with a long-term perspective, with a focus on authenticity and respect for the area’s history and character. For example, to respect the storied past of the locality, recent development has overseen the restoration of historic façades, the reinstatement of early 20th century architectural details and upgrades to pedestrian routes through widened pavements and the pedestrianisation of Basil Street.

How does The Knightsbridge Estate approach long-term investment, and how is that strategy reflected in developments like K1?

At The Knightsbridge Estate, decisions are always made with the end-experience in mind — particularly in ​​how investments are felt over time by the people who regularly move through and experience the area.

K1, which is a mixed-use development on the corner of Brompton Road and Sloane Square, has introduced new retail spaces alongside offices, homes and destination dining — while improving pedestrian flow and access to the London Underground. Designed by London-based architecture firm Fletcher Priest, the development has transformed the prominent corner into a mixed-use environment that respects the area’s character.

The development has delivered seven new flagship retail units — now home to brands including Apple, Burberry and Dolce and Gabbana — alongside a rooftop restaurant and ground-floor café operated by fine-dining Japanese restaurant Clap. It has helped bring destination dining into the area and broaden the experience.

How is investment in the public realm and infrastructure vital to the long-term success of a modern retail district?

A recent example is the entrance to Knightsbridge Underground Station on Brompton Road, which replaced an older entrance that released commuters and visitors onto a narrow pavement at a busy junction. Relocating it allowed pavements to be widened, improved pedestrian flow and created a more continuous retail frontage at the corner of Brompton Road and Sloane Street.

At The Knightsbridge Estate, decisions are made with the end-experience in mind — how investments are felt over time by the people who regularly move through and experience the area.

There have also been improvements to the pedestrian route between Brompton Road and Basil Street, with upgraded lighting, planting and a landscaped pocket garden outside One Hooper’s Court. These changes benefit residents and office occupiers, but they also make the area more intuitive and enjoyable for visitors moving through Knightsbridge.

Looking ahead, The Knightsbridge Estate has partnered with Harrods to upgrade Hans Crescent. As the main physical link between our two estates, Hans Crescent will be transformed in 2026 with new paving, lighting, seating and planting — creating a more cohesive and welcoming route through the area. The aim is to create spaces that encourage people to move through or linger — and repeatedly return to the area.

What comes next in the curation of the estate?

Tailoring the quality and balance of the tenant mix has long been central to The Knightsbridge Estate’s approach. Recent investment has significantly enhanced the environment along Sloane Street and Basil Street, and that’s created opportunities for brands that can add something distinctive to the area.

The emphasis now is on finding the right occupiers — brands that will contribute positively to the street and the wider neighbourhood. 3 Sloane Street offers a prime setting between established luxury neighbours Burberry and Dolce and Gabbana on a street with global appeal. Meanwhile, 4 Basil Street naturally lends itself to experience‑led or wellness concepts and is an exciting chance to bring something unique to Knightsbridge.

In both cases, the objective is to build on The Knightsbridge Estate’s long‑term vision, ensuring each new addition strengthens Knightsbridge’s position as a leading luxury retail destination.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by The Knightsbridge Estate as part of a BoF partnership.