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THE LATEST PLACEMAKING NEWS

“Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier could emerge as a refreshing beacon of culinary innovation and diversity”, states Will Odwarka, F&B-expert, founder and CEO of Heartatwork Hospitality Consulting and member of the ACROSS Advisory Board. He takes a close look at the recently announced differentiation of the F&B offering at Hamburg’s new shopping destination. With this diverse concept he is positive that Hamburg will be able to show the power of food to cultivate community spirit.

Regio Data’s annual retail chain expansion analysis brings Austria as an example, revealing that store networks are hardly growing any more, with retreat and consolidation dominating instead. Of the 732 retail chains from 24 sectors analyzed, many are putting on the brakes, and this trend is largely prevalent across the whole of Europe. However, there are also companies that are keen to expand. Online retailers and non-food discounters are squeezing out specialized retailers – with noticeable consequences for the retail landscape.

This year’s EuroCIS focused on artificial intelligence, seamless check-out, and smart technologies. The presented solutions impressively showed how the retail industry will be positioned in the future. Generative AI enables more efficient processes, while automated checkout systems and digital shopping carts transform the shopping experience. Here, we present the most exciting approaches.

The Prada Group reports another year of remarkable results and solid progress, as high brand desirability and disciplined execution drove a positive trajectory on both revenue and margins. The Group’s net revenues grew by 17% to 5.4 billion euros at constant exchange rates compared to 2023, a well above-market performance marking four consecutive years of double-digit, like-for-like growth.

The renovation and modernization process at the KING CROSS Zagreb shopping center has reached a significant stage of development: on 27 February, the part of the mall that has been completely renovated and modernized in recent months while business operations continued reopened.

As the potential for retailers to generate footfall themselves is becoming more limited, shopping centers in Germany need to closely examine their own management strategies, and their approach to repositioning, revealed an expert panel at the joint press conference “Outlook Retail Real Estate 2025”, as they examined the German commercial real estate market’s current challenges and opportunities.

Kaufland’s success story is characterized by the balance between the advantages of standardization within a large group and regional integration. In an interview with ACROSS, Michael Hiese, Chief Real Estate Officer at Kaufland International, discusses the company’s growth strategy, his optimistic outlook, why location is more important than asset class, and what makes a Kaufland store truly distinctive.

Inflation, geopolitical crises, and a weakening economy have dominated the European markets for the past two years. While EU economic growth slightly increased in 2024, Germany, the largest economy, recorded a marginal decline. Despite persistent economic challenges, there are signs of cautious optimism: Slightly higher growth is expected in the EU in 2025, with strong momentum from the CEE and SEE regions, where countries such as Poland and Croatia are expected to achieve strong growth.

Owned and managed by VIA Outlets, Sevilla Fashion Outlet is not only an outstanding retail destination within Spain, but all over Europe. The remodelling of the outlet center that was finished at the end of 2023 has contributed to a large increase in visitor numbers and brand sales at the location, and continues to inspire the industry, as can be seen by its position as a finalist for ‘Best Refurbishment and Expansion Project’ at the 2024 MAPIC Awards.

With its history stretching back to the late 1800s, today, Rinascente has a collection of nine prestigious stores in Italy, occupying large historical buildings in the heart of the main cities. They are real references for the city and for an exclusive shopping experience. The brand’s store in Florence is a unique highlight among the nine stores, especially following its remodelling in recent years.

Felix von Saucken, current Head of Residential in Germany, has been promoted to CEO of Colliers in Germany, effective 1 March 2025, reporting to Davoud Amel-Azizpour, CEO, EMEA. Von Saucken will also become an equity partner in the business.