August 2015

The Istanbul New Airport is set to become the largest of its kind worldwide. Its opening is planned for the end of 2018. Around 53,000 sq m of retail space will sweeten passengers’ stays there.

According to Tanja Nedwig, Marketing & Communications Director of Cross Jeans, the denim market is benefitting from the current oversupply. It makes the market interesting, since differences can and must be underscored. In an interview with ACROSS, she explains that the company also plans to expand into Scandinavia, the UK, and Asia.

A look at Lithuania: According to the “Real Estate Market Report 2015 – Baltic States” by Ober-Haus, not a single large shopping center has opened its doors in Vilnius in the last five years. Developers are trying to exploit attractive locations by offering small and medium-size malls, however.

Henrik Stadigh, Director Shopping Centers, and Pia Arrhenius, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and IR, tell ACROSS that the Finnish real estate investment company Sponda will concentrate in the future on office space and shopping centers.

Miguel Pereda, Board Member of Lar España, announced new transactions over the upcoming months in an interview with ACROSS. The Spanish company intends to invest more than €1 billion before the end of this year.

Europe’s largest luxury designer outlet, Serravalle Designer Outlet, near Milan, one of 20 McArthurGlen Designer Outlets across Europe, recently announced its expansion.

For shopping centers, it is important to position themselves as a brand, to offer strong emotional content through distinctive design and attractive mixed offerings and experiences. A way to ensure customer loyalty for a mall is to offer its own individualized gift cards.

theleisureway is a Spanish company dedicated to the creation of leisure experiences that are unique, innovative, tailor-made for shopping centers, and have the sole mission of satisfying customers to make sure they come back.

Dalton Park in Murton (County Durham) celebrated the official start to its Phase 2 development with a traditional “groundbreaking” ceremony on June 19, 2015, with local dignitaries and project team members.

We are in very exciting times for the foodservice industry and for foodservice in general. The growth opportunities are tremendous, with new units opening every day in cities, towns, railway stations, airports, and, of course, shopping centers.

Thomas Mark, Vice President of MK Illumination, talks with ACROSS about the most important trends in Christmas lighting and the reasons why the demands of shopping center operators are incompatible with progressive budget cuts.

Strong interest from retailers and customers’ positive views of outlets mean a bright future for Russia’s outlet centers. There is potential to launch 25 to 30 new projects in the next 10 to 15 years.

The traditional shopping center market in the country appears to be becoming saturated and investors are now seeking other “niche” retail formats.

I was recently very pleased to be invited to speak at the ICSC European Retail Property School in Frankfurt, addressing a group of young delegates who were largely at the early stages of their careers.