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As reported by “Handelsblatt”, a buyer has been found for the insolvent department store chain. A consortium consisting of the US investment company NRDC Equity Partners and the entrepreneur Bernd Beetz wants to take over the insolvent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof.

The revival of Swiss shopping centers – shopping centers that combine shopping convenience and experience offer the highest added value.

In December 2023, London’s luxury department store, Harrods, unveiled two new womenswear rooms dedicated to occasionwear and swimwear, as part of its redevelopment project at its Knightsbridge home. umdasch The Store Makers was entrusted with bringing Harrods’ vision to life – implementing the shopfitting based on a concept by David Collins Studio. The result sets the stage for an ideal shopping experience tailored to special occasions.

“In reading up for this commentary on outlet malls, I was surprised to learn that the concept has been around for a surprisingly long time, especially in the US”, states Susan Hagerty Bonsak, CEO of Placewise.

Social and geopolitical developments have dominated the placemaking industry in recent years. During these challenging times, important issues, such as location marketing, have been overshadowed by others – and not just in the media. While this may seem understandable at first glance, it has now become clear that companies that have continuously focused on the issues of market positioning and professional location marketing are more fit for the future. ACROSS spoke with Sebastian Guth, Managing Director of 21Media, about what good location campaigns look like, the differences between B2B and B2C campaigns, and why operators who fail to focus on marketing will lose out in the medium term.

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

“The money is there but is selective” – There are and will always be investments in retail real estate. Investing in retail real estate is particularly attractive since the industry has come through the crisis faster than other asset classes. In the latest ACROSS Retail Talk, “Euphoria, a new dawn, or more of the same?” sheds light on the investor’s perspective for 2024, a high-caliber panel concluded: There are more opportunities than ever, not only in the CEE-market, but also in so called struggling markets like Germany and Spain.

There are 211 major outlet centres in Europe. Differences in brand line up have created a clear performance hierarchy of sites, which is widely understood by outlet professionals, states Ken Gunn in his lastest European Outlet Ranking. It is possible to use this hierarchy to profile brands by the performance quality of their locations and ultimately rank outlet centres by the strength of brands present.

Shopping centers with high vacancy rates vs. booming outlets – so why not combine shopping centers and outlets? Haslinger Retail Real Estate Consulting is doing just that in St. Augustin, Germany: Huma World is a hybrid center with an outlet on the upper floor and a classic shopping center offering on the lower floors. In short, it is a weatherproof outlet with many restaurants and extended services. Michael Haslinger explains the advantages for brands, owners, and customers and why hybrid centers are not cure-all for the struggling shopping center sector.

Leo’s Abenteuerpark GmbH is building a new indoor adventure world for children on an area of 4,000 sq m at Paunsdorf Center in Leipzig. The adventure park is scheduled to open in spring 2025. As part of the sector trend leisure and entertainment, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) Germany and Leo’s Abenteuerpark are strengthening the location’s profile as a family friendly and experience-orientated shopping and leisure destination in the region.

MEC is further expanding its position as a retail real estate specialist and national market leader for retail parks: As of March 1st, 2024, it has taken over the operation of EKZ Abensberg.

“Investors and Retailers often want too much too soon.” Christian Alexander Kuntze, the founder of NEXXT IN RETAIL, critically examines the expansion strategies of large and small companies. He explains the biggest mistakes made during expansion and how start-up businesses can avoid them. His most important advice before any expansion is: Know your DNA!

Shopping center investors and managers are increasingly concerned about the role of their assets, the value and experience they deliver, and how they can resonate in a digital age, argues James Miller, Director of Pragma. Therefore, the overriding focus for shopping centers in 2024, continues to be renewal and adaptation on the basis of accurate consumer research and insights.

“We are firmly committed to continuously raising the level of our malls,” says Christoph Andexlinger. The SES CEO explains why reliability and the continuous development of quality and offers are the best paths forward and why the industry urgently needs to work together to present shopping centers as places that provide attractive working conditions and benefits, which, in fact, they are.