In October 2022, ImRaum Immobilien acquired Designer Outlet Luxembourg and appointed ROS Retail Outlet Shopping as the new management company. Since then, the premium outlet shopping destination in southern Belgium has demonstrated a steady growth reinforcing its convenient position at the crossroads of Luxembourg, France and near Germany.
Double-digit sales growth
With already a good center performance in the last quarter of 2022, the upward trend at Designer Outlet Luxembourg has continued throughout 2023. The premium outlet village reports a rise of 15% in sales and 9% in traffic YTD compared to last year. Highlights of such strong performance also include a historic summer season with record-breaking sales during the month of July, accounting for almost 15% compared to 2022 and peaking on Saturday, 1 July, when the summer sales officially began at the premium outlet village.
“We are really pleased with the upward trend we are seeing at Designer Outlet Luxembourg, which is showing positive development since the takeover. This is certainly the result of effective management, focused on addressing the needs of our brand partners in line with those of our customers,” said Thomas Reichenauer, Co-Founder & Managing Director at ROS Retail Outlet Shopping.
Establishing good practices for a successful brand partnership
Brand partnership is at the core of the center management’s approach. The relocation of the Hugo Boss store at the main entrance of the center position just opposite Tommy Hilfiger was one of the first moves in this direction. With an enlargement of 180 sq m and a total gross lettable area of 672 sq m, the new store’s location resulted in +24.6% sales year-to-date in comparison to 2022. “A successful collaboration with Designer Outlet Luxembourg, given the store’s record figures, driven by a reinforced brand, renewed sales teams and a center that continues to show improvement despite the challenges. Let’s rock the numbers!” says Léon Kazumba, Store Manager at Hugo Boss.
Over the past year, several brands have additionally joined the center and reinforced its casualwear offer, including Dutch brand WE Fashion, Petrol Industries and ONLY & Sons. The Bestseller group also recently enlarged its ONLY store at Designer Outlet Luxembourg by 174 sq m, totaling a gross lettable area of 520 sq m. “We really appreciate the partnership with ROS Retail Outlet Shopping at Designer Outlet Luxembourg. The entire team is extremely open minded, always helpful and looking for solutions. Awareness of the market and its needs is visible in everything they do. Both the second enlargement of our ONLY store within just 12 months and the great results from our new ONLY & Sons store reflect our deep satisfaction,” said Kathrin Lukas, Bestseller Retail Expansion Manager.
Enhanced shopping experience to attract an increasingly demanding customer
As part of its new approach to enhance the shopping experience, Designer Outlet Luxembourg surprised visitors with a new center atmosphere last summer. Inspired by ‘La vie en rose’, the iconic song by Edith Piaf, the premium outlet village unveiled a unique pink center decoration during its Late Night Shopping event together with attractive offers and a great entertainment programme.
Similarly, from 22 – 25 June, Designer Outlet Luxembourg hosted the Braderie event with extended opening hours, incredible discounts, food trucks and cocktail bars, activities for the whole family and much more. The premium village recorded a historic Luxembourg’s National Day on 23 June with an all-time sales record of 15.1%. Traffic increased by 9.9% compared to 2022, making it overall the second strongest sales and traffic day since the start of 2023.
Efforts to bring something new to visitors is further proven by different initiatives organised by the outlet center. It is the case of the new pop-up art gallery ‘Memento Vivere, l’annexe’. Since June, Designer Outlet Luxembourg welcomes several local artists from the ‘Memento Vivere’ studio based in the town of Arlon, 15-minute drive from the outlet, with painting, calligraphy, photography, sculpture, jewellery and ceramics. In addition, customers can now also benefit from the new on-site personalization service by which they can have unique embroidery on their clothes or customize their sneakers in just a few minutes. “Outlet villages are increasingly becoming meeting places where people come with their loved ones not only to shop, but also to have a good time, eat and engage in leisure. And the new approach is working. We have changed our marketing approach and we are very pleased to attract more customers from Luxembourg, France and Germany,” said Stéphane Thil, Centre Manager at Designer Outlet Luxembourg.
Good prospects as a result of improved infrastructures
Designer Outlet Luxembourg has established itself as a popular cross-border shopping destination. Located in the Walloon region of Messancy in Belgium, the shopping destination enjoys a great potential thanks to its prime location on the border with Luxembourg and France as well as its proximity to Germany in just 40 minutes. The catchment area concentrates a high purchasing power, with Luxembourg having by far the highest GDP per capita in the European Union, according to the latest Eurostat study.
The immediate vicinity of Designer Outlet Luxembourg is currently under full development. The Van Der Valk hotel, located just a 5-minute drive from the outlet village, is in the process of expanding its facilities with 56 new rooms, a wellness spa, a surfing pool and eco-initiatives. A four-star Golf & Resort hotel is also scheduled to open in 2024 about 10 minutes from the premium outlet shopping destination.
Accessibility improvements to Designer Outlet Luxembourg are also underway. In addition to the works already carried out this year to improve the highway in front of the centre, a dedicated public bus stop for the outlet will be created as well as a bike lane that will connect the village of Messancy to Designer Outlet Luxembourg as part of the project to establish a cross-border cycle path with France and Luxembourg.
