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Management

LATEST TRENDS AND PROGRESSES IN ASSET AND CENTER MANAGEMENT

Unlike English retailers who focus on margin percentages, many German retailers prioritize profit per unit (Deckungsbeitrag), focusing on actual money earned rather than relative percentages. John Brenninkmeijer argues that to optimize assortment decision-making for a store, managers should consider the Dollar Contribution “Deckungsbeitrag” of products and the possible Opportunity Cost incurred when choosing one option over another.

MEC is significantly expanding the portfolio of commercial sites it operates. The Düsseldorf-based company has now entered into an agreement with the investment consultancy SCP Group to manage eight German commercial sites with a total rental area of approximately 130,000 sq m. With the expansion of its portfolio, MEC now operates nearly 80 commercial sites nationwide, covering over 1.7 million sq m of rental space. 

As of April 01, 2024, Martin Hemetsberger took over the management of the “Real Estate Development” division at real estate developer and operator SES Spar European Shopping Centers at the company’s headquarters in Salzburg. He is responsible for the development and further development of large-scale shopping destinations in six countries. Hemetsberger will report to SES CDO Alexander Eck, who has been in charge of development in addition to his role as a member of the SES Management Board.

Social and geopolitical developments have dominated the placemaking industry in recent years. During these challenging times, important issues, such as location marketing, have been overshadowed by others – and not just in the media. While this may seem understandable at first glance, it has now become clear that companies that have continuously focused on the issues of market positioning and professional location marketing are more fit for the future. ACROSS spoke with Sebastian Guth, Managing Director of 21Media, about what good location campaigns look like, the differences between B2B and B2C campaigns, and why operators who fail to focus on marketing will lose out in the medium term.

In the 60th anniversary year of the future Westfield Ruhr Park in Bochum, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is crowning the success story of one of the largest shopping and leisure destinations in Germany: Westfield Ruhr Park will be the third destination in Germany to bear the internationally renowned Westfield brand name, alongside Westfield Centro in Oberhausen and Westfield Hamburg Überseequartier.

Jan Niclas Brandt will become the new CEO of MediaMarkt Austria and MediaMarkt Switzerland starting April 1, 2024. The native German with Norwegian roots is taking on this dual role as part of a strategic realignment of the management levels in both countries. The aim is to grow closer together operationally and to benefit from complementary skills. Cooperation with the parent company will also be intensified.

MEC is further expanding its position as a retail real estate specialist and national market leader for retail parks: As of March 1st, 2024, it has taken over the operation of EKZ Abensberg.

“Investors and Retailers often want too much too soon.” Christian Alexander Kuntze, the founder of NEXXT IN RETAIL, critically examines the expansion strategies of large and small companies. He explains the biggest mistakes made during expansion and how start-up businesses can avoid them. His most important advice before any expansion is: Know your DNA!

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) currently operates 21 assets in the German and Austrian region: 19 in Germany, eight of which are in the Group’s own portfolio, and two in Austria. Last year, a total of 714 rental contracts were closed for these 21 assets. The average vacancy rate for the core locations in the portfolio around Westfield Centro in Oberhausen, Ruhr Park in Bochum, as well as Westfield Shopping City Süd in Vösendorf in Greater Vienna and Westfield Donau Zentrum in Vienna, is less than two percent.

Shopping center operator ECE Marketplaces achieved a strong leasing performance in 2023 and once again increased the leased space in its centers. In total, ECE Marketplaces achieved a leasing performance of around 800,000 sq m in the centers it manages and leases in 2023, an increase of almost 50 percent compared to the previous year. ECE concluded a total of around 2,600 lease contracts in 2023.