Glasgow's Retail Sector is Thriving

2025 has been a successful year for Glasgow city centre as the area continues its post-pandemic recovery and maintains its position as the UK’s biggest shopping destination outside London. 

Figures for the city centre show that retail sales were up 9.4% in August 2025 in comparison to August 2024, and Glasgow has outperformed its UK competitor cities such as Edinburgh (a 0.2% increase), Manchester (0.4% increase), Leeds (0.9% decrease) and UK overall (4.8% decrease) when comparing those months.  

The fashion and the food & drink sectors were integral to this performance for August 2025, with increases of 10.5% and 18.2% respectively - the UK figures for these sectors saw a decrease of 4.6% and 2.2% respectively. 

Key to the city centre’s recovery has been the resilience of its retail sector, underlined by the recent opening of the Uniqlo store on Argyle Street. 

Other recent significant store openings include Miniso in Central Station, & Other Stories in Princes Square, Next on Argyle Street, Mango, Pandora, JD Sports and Laings on Buchanan Street, with others - including Anthropologie in Princes Square and Restock3d in the St Enoch Centre - set to open later this year. 

Sales figures in Glasgow city centre from January to the end of August this year increased by 2.2%, in contrast to the decreases in Edinburgh (-1.8%), Leeds (-2.1%), Manchester (-3.3%) and the UK average (-2.9%). 

Councillor Angus Millar, Convener for City Centre Recovery at Glasgow City Council, said:

These latest figures for Glasgow city centre are tremendously encouraging and show the strengths of its recovery - underlined by the confidence that a whole host of retailers are showing in the city centre through the investment in their new stores.  The success of the city centre over the past year is also shown by its performance relative to other UK cities, and is testament to the work being done by the council and its partners to make the area more attractive now and in the future to everyone who use the area, from shoppers and residents to investors and developers.

Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said:

The importance of Glasgow city centre cannot be overstated, and these figures are a very positive sign as we move from post-pandemic recovery into a new era for our city.  It is especially encouraging to see consumer spending on the rise, as this is a key measure for businesses considering expansion. The recent arrival of high-profile brands underlines Glasgow’s strong reputation as an international destination of choice for ambitious companies.

Charlie Griffiths, Asset Management Director at Landsec, said:

During this year we were delighted to welcome the new two-storey JD Sports flagship store to our Buchanan Gardens building.  As we look ahead and progress plans to refurbish and enhance Buchanan Galleries, we are seeing a lot of interest from retail and leisure brands looking to establish or grow their presence in Glasgow city centre.

Alessandro Dudech, Chief Operating Officer at UNIQLO U.K., said:

We’re excited to open our new store on Argyle Street, one of Scotland’s most iconic and historic shopping destinations. Perfectly positioned in the heart of Glasgow’s thriving retail scene, this location offers the ideal setting to showcase our LifeWear to a diverse and dynamic community of shoppers.  It’s also gives us a fantastic opportunity to champion local partners as part of this opening, collaborating with creatives and organisations that reflect the spirit and energy of the city.