The secret of its success is a complex mix of many factors – such as its location on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, a flexible letting strategy, a sure instinct for recognizing trends and the courage to innovate. Sonae Sierra is responsible for the development, letting and center management of ALEXA. The center is owned by an open-ended real estate fund of Union Investment.
The results of the first few months of 2024 already show how diverse success at ALEXA can be: A new HUGO BOSS store opened at the end of March, presenting the new, relaxed side of HUGO with the HUGO BLUE collection and thus also appealing to a younger audience. In mid-April, the timelessly sporty French fashion company Lacoste opened its doors. In recent years, Lacoste has played its way back into the league of iconic trend labels through collaborations with other cult brands such as Minecraft, Polaroid, the Peanuts, the US cult label Awake NY and the skateboard magazine Trasher. A Lindt boutique opened at the beginning of June. And the brand for fashion-conscious outdoor enthusiasts Wellensteyn, highly satisfied with its sales at ALEXA, seized the opportunity to rent an adjacent space that had become vacant and thus significantly expand the store. The ALEXA parking lot also boasts a new feature: since mid-April, it has offered twelve Tesla Supercharger charging stations of the latest generation, making it the largest fast-charging hub for electric vehicles in Berlin’s city center.
How has ALEXA managed to consistently stand out from other centers for more than 17 years? How has it managed to stand out from other centers, win over well-known brands and permanently establish its standing as an international mall? It’s simple: ALEXA on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz is the place to be for Berliners, visitors to Berlin and therefore also for brands – and vice versa. Like a perpetuum mobile whose elements give each other momentum. An important prerequisite for this: with its strategically continuously adapted tenant mix, ALEXA not only serves the interests of national and international tourists in search of Berlin local color and major trend brands, it also satisfies the “trend hunger” of young Berlin target groups who are always on the lookout for cool new brands and creative concepts.
The ALEXA does not ignore its micro-location. After all, it’s not just Berlin as a city that is constantly changing, the neighborhood right next to ALEXA is changing too. For this reason, the new city quarter (owned by Union Investment) is also continuously included in the strategy. The new city quarter is home to apartments and hotels (including the young, trendy hybrid hospitality concept “The Social Hub”), companies from a wide range of sectors, offices and coworking spaces as well as small restaurants and cafés. By constantly readjusting the symbiosis with the neighborhood, new target groups for the ALEXA are also constantly being addressed. After all, any symbiosis can only work in the long term if its elements adapt to each other and their immediate living space as well as possible.
The fact that the center at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz is doing a lot of things right is proven not least by ALEXA’s outstanding visitor frequency: by 2023 at the latest, it had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. Up to 15 million visitors a year currently come to the mall, whose 1920s-style architecture is as timeless as it is modern and fresh.
