ACROSS: You have been a consultant for the gastronomy and entertainment sector of PlusCity’s extension near Linz. How did this come about?
PETER POINTNER: We have been working with PlusCity for more than 20 years. During this time we visited many malls across the entire world, for example in Dubai, Las Vegas, or China, to see the latest trends in this sector. An upgrade of more than ten percent in the gastronomy and entertainment sector was planned for the extension of PlusCity. This was of course a great opportunity to incorporate our experience.
ACROSS: Which priorities were set for this project?
POINTNER: We mainly focused on the integration of the movie theater into center. The theater was originally built as a separate building component in the 90’s. Mr. Ernst Kirchmayr changed that by connecting the buildings on the second upper floor. By merging the two buildings the gastronomy sector clearly benefits, particularly from longer opening hours. Restaurants in malls usually suffer from a lack of business in the evening.
ACROSS: And moviegoers are supposed to change that?
POINTNER: Not only moviegoers. PlusCity now accommodates Upper Austria’s biggest movie theater and Austria’s biggest IMAX theater with 600 seats.
Ocean Park is yet another crucial anchor tenant we were able to win over. The Ocean Park family entertainment center provides bowling, billiard, interactive fun and video games as well as a playground for kids.
We expanded the gastronomy sector as well, for example with the premium burger concept of Granola from Graz. 3 Goldene Kugeln was set up as well. We are about to bring Nacho Libre to PlusCity and incorporate the current Tex-Mex trend. At the same time we were able to bring in international chains like KFC to the center.
Funnily enough, there was even petition on Facebook that was signed by thousands of people who wanted KFC to come to Linz.
ACROSS: What else was particularly important for you?
POINTNER: Mirroring the gastronomy sector on the outside was very important for us. In other words: We want to open restaurants towards the outside, for example with terraces. We will launch this phase in spring 2017.
L’Osteria has already signed. The big garden will then extend towards the terrace instead of the mall area. Future visitors of the mall will see these green gardens from afar. We reinforce the hospitality sector towards the outside.
Another point is the opening of a discotheque. Due to the subsequently increased traffic volume at nightly hours, we will build a separate structure for it. We have already found an operator but negotiations are still ongoing.
What’s important is that facilities like discos, cinemas, and entertainment opportunities attract young audiences. I will show them how to appreciate their parents’ center. Ideally, they will do their baby and family shopping at PulsCity by the time they reach the end of their 20’s.
