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Retail

One year ago, the long-standing chairman of the Austrian Council of Shopping Places (ACSP), Stephan Mayer-Heinisch, announced his retirement after 21 successful years. His long-standing deputy, Christoph Andexlinger took over the function of the chairman, for which he had already been elected last year, as planned during the General Assembly.

Grosvenor has welcomed Timothy Oulton, the British furniture company noted for its traditional handcraftsmanship, to Liverpool ONE. The 297 sq m gallery, located on Peter’s Lane, has opened its first standalone space in the north of England.

The fashion company Pull&Bear, a brand of the Spanish Inditex Group, opened a flagship store in the leisure and shopping center on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. It is the second store of the fashion brand in Berlin and the first store in a Berlin shopping center.

Property developer and asset manager, Sovereign Centros, has submitted a planning application outlining its masterplan proposals for the reimagination of St. Enoch Center in Glasgow. The mixed-use development puts focus on retail, leisure, entertainment, hotel, offices, and city center living.

In times of unpredictability, marketing spending is usually the first candidate for budget cuts. Marketing management in the commercial real estate sector must be highly focussed on the issues that are fundamental to the business of property owners which directly contributes to increasing their value.

This time, our recurring online event, ACROSS Retail Talks, this time, took a close look at what food anchors mean for the profitability of a location’s success, how the collaboration between the involved stakeholders works, and why flexibility is not only the key learning from the pandemic, but also the key strategy for the future.

Mitiska REIM announced the acquisition of Makado Beek retail center from Syntrus Achmea, on behalf of the First Retail International 2 Fund (FRI 2) and in partnership with local co-investment partner and asset manager 3W Real Estate. It is one of the largest retail centers in the Netherlands, attracting over 3 million visitors per year.

CEE real estate developer, investor, and operator, Prime Kapital, announced that it has raised a €125 million green club loan facility for its development joint-venture with listed property investor MAS plc, real estate investor listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Many retail real estate companies are currently hesitant to promote their sustainability efforts. The fear of being accused of greenwashing if the location or company is not 100% sustainable outweighs the potential upside of leasing to green-minded tenants. Yet, there is a clear and simple strategy when it comes to marketing one’s sustainability efforts without fearing to be accused of greenwashing.

Moss Bros. has launched a new concept store at Victoria Place, the recently launched €840 million regeneration scheme in Woking town center, co-owned by Woking Borough Council and Moyallen Group. Occupying a 255 sq m space, the brand has opened on Victoria Place’s Henry Plaza.

The important anchor tenant of the popular hybrid center at Cologne’s Neumarkt has extended its lease and is investing in a comprehensive modernisation and redesign of its sales premises. After the remodelling, the “Mayersche bookstore” will operate under the new Thalia brand name.

Thomas Hinderling will become Wincasa’s new Head of Center & Mixed-Use Site Management (CMSM) as of May 1, 2022. He takes over the position from Felix Kubat, who is leaving the company at his own request. Philipp Arnold will succeed him as Head of Mixed-Use Site Management (MUSM) German-speaking Switzerland.

In view of the war events in Ukraine with incomprehensible suffering for the civilian population, the retail alliance “Leben gehört ins Zentrum” (“Life belongs in the center”) together with the German Council of Shopping Places have launched a broad Ukraine donation campaign. The donations will be used for medical supplies. The campaign is launched in cooperation with the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein.

By 2024, the number of STOP SHOPs will be increased by around 40% to 140 locations through selective acquisitions and new openings. The focus will also be on Italy, where ten new retail parks will be opened by 2024.