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As a participant and contributor to the world of hospitality for over 30 years, Will Odwarka shares in this column insights, thoughts, and concepts that represent the contemporary challenges of our industry either as part of a retail environment or as standalone operations. He will do this without sugarcoating and superficial bumper sticker statements.

The European shopping center market overvalues design and investment but needs to pay more attention to atmosphere, interaction, and service, says Will Odwarka. This hurts the centers and especially their gastronomy section. The founder and CEO of Dubai-based Heartatwork Hospitality Consulting explains in his conversation with ACROSS editor Reinhard Winiwarter why excellent, personable service is the prerequisite for everything in the field of gastronomy.

While the mood in Central and Western Europe’s retail sector is dominated by “gray clouds”, center developers and operators from the SEE and CEE regions are in a completely different situation. In an interview with ACROSS Publisher Reinhard Winiwarter, Rüdiger Dany, CEO of NEPI Rockcastle, explains his 700 million development pipeline, how NEPI is profiting from ESG, and in which regard the West can learn something from the East.

“Shopping centers shape the city’s identity and, at best, pay dividends for the municipality’s image,“ states Uwe Seidel. The Managing Partner at Dr. Lademann & Partners on the role of shopping centers for society and what tools are essential to monitoring these changes within the respective community.

“The whole industry needs to prepare to be relevant for the unforeseeable future,” states Peter Tonstad, CEO of Placewise, in his latest PropTech column. According to him, shopping centers have the opportunity to do better by their local communities, by simply “doing good”. Introducing digital solutions is a very helpful tool to do so.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European retail sector has been experiencing one crisis after another. As the pandemic faded, consumers and retailers finally hoped for relief, but the war in Ukraine immediately followed, causing further crises.

Mauro Abruzzese is an Italian retail and shopping center expert who develops projects in Kosovo for OCM International. In this interview, the CEO and Managing Director explains how the individual SEE markets are developing, what makes them different, what the local consumers are like, and what investors should consider before entering the market.

“Through constant innovation, we can remain at the forefront of the industry and maintain our commitment to adding value to our clients’ assets,” said Cristina Santos. The Managing Director of Property Management of Sonae Sierra talked to ACROSS founder Reinhard Winiwarter about the Prishtina Mall management contract.

BEO Shopping Center is a best practice example of how to create a meaningful identity for a shopping center. What used to be a ruined factory has become a real community center and an award-winning shopping destination. Nemanja Bućinac, Retail Leasing Director MPC Properties, gives a unique overview of BEO Shopping Center.

Twenty-five years of Designer Outlet Parndorf: It all started with a clear vision. Mario Schwann, General Manager McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Parndorf, talks in his extensive ACROSS interview about the development of the location, decisions about the brand mix, the development as a tourist location, and why the geographical location at the border triangle of Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia always pays off, especially in challenging times.

“The net to gross the proportion of tenanted space to the public realm is shifting,” states Ibrahim Ibrahim, Managing Director of Portland Design, in his discussion with Reinhard Winiwarter. Developers and asset owners of commercial spaces have no option but to rethink public spaces. But this changes everything and will require new skills to respond.