Advertisement

Retail

STRATEGIES AND EXPANSION PLANS OF RETAILERS

True retail experience represents a major opportunity to inspire and retain customers when they visit a store – perhaps the only opportunity, says Dr. Johannes Berentzen, Managing Director of retail consultancy BBE. Yet, how can experience and, by extension, success be measured? In an interview with ACROSS, the strategy consultant talks, among other things, about how and why we need to rethink space in brick-and-mortar retail, which key figures we should question, and what role technology plays in the process. The underlying challenge: The successful implementation of good ideas requires creativity, entrepreneurial courage, and the necessary funds.

In order for retailers and retail property operators to inspire and retain customers in the long term, it is essential that they rethink their spaces and develop innovative concepts, according to HBB. Such new approaches include the redefinition of multi-sensory shopping experiences and strategies to enhance the customer experience.

The fashion chain Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf has signed a long-term lease contract to become a new tenant in the Limbecker Platz shopping center in Essen. Union Investment and ECE are setting the course for the future of the center with the first extensive partial letting of the space in the former Galeria store, which is also set to benefit Essen’s city centre in the long term.

The bowling concept is opening its first location in continental Europe with The Playce in Berlin. The British company’s appetite for expansion does not stop there. Tim Wilks, founder of the concept, explains in an interview why bowling, in particular, is a successful format, how he guarantees footfall for shopping center landlords and other tenants, and which markets and locations are on his list.

Breuninger has been pursuing a consistent omnichannel approach since 2008. Ideally, customers should feel no difference between the channels. At the same time, the openings in Munich and Hamburg are a clear statement in favor of brick-and-mortar retail. ACROSS spoke with Alexander Entov, Managing Director of Breuninger’s Department Store in Munich, about what positive experiences “made by Breuninger” look like, why there should be no separation between the offline and online worlds, and why customer feedback is ultimately the most important factor.

In an era in which e-commerce has gained significant influence, brick-and-mortar retail faces various challenges. These challenges have created an opportunity to rethink and renew the conventional shopping experience. The Turkish retail world is one step ahead when it comes to experience-oriented retail. Turkish shopping centers and young brands, in particular, offer their customers products as well as experiences that go far beyond shopping. Many brands are bringing this philosophy to Europe as part of their expansion strategies.

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

The Rhein-Ruhr Zentrum (RRZ) in Mülheim, Germany, has gained a new anchor tenant: leisure provider ADVENTICA. The owners of the center, Eurofund Group and Signal Capital Partners, have now signed a long-term lease for 3,300 sq m of space. The opening of ADVENTICA’s first German location is planned for the second quarter of 2025, while renovation work will begin in early October.

Through its platform, the Berlin-based company Cariqa connects charge point operators (CPO) and customers directly instead of the usual payment concept via e-mobility providers.

A good ten years after its opening, Skyline Plaza in Frankfurt am Main, which is jointly owned by Allianz and ECE, is receiving more than 35 million euros for an extensive modernization program. With new tenants and concepts, a revised design and numerous additional offers and services, it is being comprehensively prepared for the future.

NIKE announces that Elliott Hill will become President and Chief Executive Officer of NIKE, Inc., effective October 14, 2024. Hill will also become a Director of the NIKE, Inc. Board of Directors and a member of the Executive Committee.