Berlin is the only city in Germany that belongs to the exclusive circle of international metropolises in which Nike and Snipes carry out such collaborations. With this expansion, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) Germany is strengthening its focus on rental partners with innovative and exciting shopping and experience concepts.
“For Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, it is a central concern to inspire visitors at our destinations with exciting brand cooperations and innovative store concepts and thus increase the experience factor. The expansion gives our partner Snipes in the fashion metropolis Berlin additional opportunities to inspire visitors and customers with creative concepts and underlines our claim to be the best address for innovative brands and retail concepts”, explains Constantin Wiesmann, Director of Leasing at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Germany.
The store at Alexanderplatz is also a special branch for Snipes. In the past, parts of the store have already been converted into a Chicago Bulls locker room or a fast-food stand has been set up in the store area. “We are very happy about the newly gained space. The Snipes store at Die Mitte at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz is our flagship and of great strategic importance. Our new Snipes collection appeared in mid-November. Thanks to the reconstruction, it can be presented even better and more vividly. The store is our most important retail space when we implement innovative campaigns and the latest store concepts at the point of sale,” says Christine Freihart, Head of Expansion at Snipes.
In previous years, Snipes had already organized events with its strategic partner Nike at the Alexanderplatz’ store. These events included a Girls’ Day, during which sneaker customizations were produced in the store. Berlin is the only German city in the exclusive circle of cities where Nike and Snipes carry out such collaborations. In addition to the own brands and Nike, the focus is also on the Jordan Brand. For this purpose, the Jordan Space is being created – a separate themed area exclusively for the footwear and apparel products of Michael Jordan’s sports and lifestyle brand.
For the future, Snipes is working on concepts such as the new ‘Snipes App’ to offer an even better shopping experience. The app will also play an important role at the ‘Snipes Soundbooth’. A sound recording booth will be installed in the store where aspiring rap musicians can record their songs. In an international campaign, the newcomers can network with musicians and producers from all over Europe. As a special highlight, an event with a Berlin rap act is planned for the first quarter of 2021.
Special brand and shopping experiences
In recent years, URW has increasingly presented new rental and cooperation partners who are setting new stimuli in the retail sector with unique brand and shopping experiences. URW has enabled original online brands, so-called Digitally Vertical Native Brands (DNVBs), such as the fashion and lifestyle label BALR., the optician Mister Spex or the watch brand Daniel Wellington to open new physical representations in URW’s portfolio.
In addition, the inauguration of Ankerkraut’s new store in Bochum’s Ruhr Park took place in mid-November. The spice manufacturer from Hamburg, which was also originally launched online, is thus opening only its fifth location in Germany and only its second in a shopping center.
The cooperation with Zalando via their omnichannel platform Connected Retail, which was launched in spring 2020, represents an additional expansion of the experience and services in the shopping centers operated by URW. This enables brick and mortar retailers to connect to the largest online fashion platform in Europe.
URW is the first shopping center operator to cooperate with Zalando within the framework of Connected Retail. URW has also significantly expanded its cooperation with the food delivery service Lieferando in recent months as part of its omnichannel strategy.
Die Mitte at Alexanderplatz
Die Mitte is located in the heart of Berlin and is a central place to go at Alexanderplatz. The modern retail property with large glass facades offers a varied mix of multimedia, fashion and local supply. The anchor tenant is Saturn with one of the largest stores in Germany. In addition to the Snipes store, dm, JD Sports and New Yorker are also located at Die Mitte. Thanks to its location and the excellent transport connections via Alexanderplatz station, the location is optimally linked to Berlin’s infrastructure. At Die Mitte, a total of 10 stores are spread over an area of around 20,000 sq m.
