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Retail

STRATEGIES AND EXPANSION PLANS OF RETAILERS

The Cologne-based startup pursues the mission of offering durable and high-quality upcycled products made from car parts at a fair price, with the entire value creation process being geared towards sustainability.

In recent months, further brands have been brought on board that will further differentiate the retail and lifestyle destination’s offering. With the Grand Opening on October 17, the city of Hamburg will welcome a vibrant new destination in the heart of HafenCity – a place that dynamically combines retail, residential, office space and leisure attractions.

Since opening in 2016, Avion has grown to become one of northern Sweden’s most popular destinations for retail, leisure, and food experiences. Now, the next step is being taken when Ingka Centres begins the first phase of the expansion of Avion Shopping. As Umeå grows, the meeting place will be expanded by 12,000 sqm with the goal of continuing to be a vibrant local meeting place with positive experiences in focus. The project is estimated to cost approximately 31 million euros and will be completed in autumn 2025.

Mango has introduced its first international store dedicated to teenagers in the UK ahead of wider expansion plans for the concept. The opening, is part of Mango’s 2024 to 2026 strategic plan, which aims to reinforce its differentiated value proposition.

Between last quarter and now, consumer sentiment has turned in a more positive direction, even though most consumers continued to report having mixed feelings about the economy, reveals the latest study by McKinsey´s ConsumerWise branch.

Many retail locations around the world continue to struggle to achieve footfall levels anything close to pre-pandemic levels. In London, for example, major tourist and worker locations, such as King’s Cross and Covent Garden, saw visitor numbers decrease 40-60% in 2023 relative to 2019 volumes, according to mobile tracking data, shares Pragma Consulting in its latest analysis.

CBRE Romania has announced its exclusive involvement in the leasing strategy of H Știrbei Palace, an emblematic historical monument located in the heart of Bucharest and one of the most anticipated retail projects in the capital. After the completion of the renovation works, Știrbei Palace aims to become a landmark shopping gallery for luxury brands in South-Eastern Europe.

At this year’s 20th edition of ECE Marketplaces’ international Retail Meeting, around 800 top decision-makers and experts from the retail, hospitality, placemaking and entertainment sectors met today in Hamburg’s Fischauktionshalle to discuss current topics as well as the opportunities and challenges in the retail real estate sector.

Why do we visit shopping centers? Is it merely for shopping, or are we seeking entertainment, a place to meet, or perhaps all of these experiences combined? Despite the diverse reasons that draw us to shopping centers, one expectation remains consistent across all visits: the demand for quality.

“Development in the future can only be a win-win-win situation, if you can tighten the building, and make it more profitable on the space per sq m” – Making use of the available space as efficiently as possible is one of the key components of a successful retail-hotel synergy. The latest ACROSS Retail Talk, “Retail and the Hotel industry” sheds light on the relationship between Retail and Hotel, and how they might profit from each other, with the high-caliber panel concluding: Combining the retail and hotel sectors works best if the market and demand for it is clear, and if the best possible partners are sought out, especially on a local level.

Retail and the hotel industry – is this a new and innovative topic? Certainly not, but it is always worth rethinking and keeping in mind, says Klaus Striebich, Managing Director of RaRE Advise and Head of the ACROSS Advisory Board. From a traditional real estate point of view, placing a hotel next to retail and vice versa has always been the norm. There has always been enough space on site or on the upper floors and demand from customers has always existed.

Retail tourism is here to stay. Travelers collectively spend billions of euros every year when they shop. They create jobs, providing income for retailers, craftsmen, and designers. Retail is one of the world’s most diverse industries, shaping every part of the travel experience, and retail tourism is playing a pivotal role in the recovery of the travel and tourism sector, which saw inbound tourism revenues surge by 82 percent in 2022, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Despite all the challenges brought on by the pandemic, retail tourism remains strong. Furthermore, if tourism and hospitality are to play an important role in the future of retail, then the presence and location of hotels is crucial, experts say. What, however, does the joint potential of the retail and hotel industry look like? This ACROSS cover story analyzes the synergies between the retail and hotel industries.

The retail and hotel asset classes are both geared towards the consumer, clearly benefit from tourism and are impacted by the “luxury vs. budget” polarization trend. Six months ago, Union Investment therefore decided to bring together its retail and hotel investment teams by establishing an Investment Management Operational department. The Hamburg-based investment and asset management company is targeting synergies and opportunities for its portfolio in the two property categories and considering acquisitions. Andreas Löcher, Head of Investment Management Operational, and Roman Müller, Head of Investment Management Retail, discuss the megatrends affecting both asset classes, highlight other similarities and identify locations of particular interest.