Retail parks have moved from being a defensive retail format to one of the most strategically relevant asset classes in European retail real estate. That was the clear conclusion of the latest ACROSS ACADEMY Retail Talk, hosted by Klaus Striebich, Managing Director of RaRE Advise and Reinhard Winiwarter, Publisher of ACROSS Magazine.
The one-hour online discussion brought together three leading industry experts: Hannah Evans, Investment Director at Redevco; Michael Hiese, Chief Real Estate Officer at Kaufland International; and Roman Müller, Head of Investment Management Retail at Union Investment. Their discussion explored why retail parks continue to demonstrate resilience while many other retail formats remain under pressure.
The panel agreed that the success of retail parks is rooted in a combination of simplicity, accessibility and necessity-driven retailing. At a time when efficiency, value orientation and omnichannel convenience increasingly shape consumer behavior, retail parks are benefiting from precisely those characteristics.
Convenience First
The discussion opened with a provocative question from Klaus Striebich: “Experience is overrated, convenience wins. Yes or no?” The panel agreed that while experience-led destinations still have their place, retail parks are benefiting from a very different consumer logic: they solve everyday needs in an efficient and uncomplicated way.
“Easy parking and high convenience, really catering to meet daily needs — that’s how retail parks should be structured,” said Michael Hiese. “Experience is an add-on, but not the primary focus.” Roman Müller described today’s retail market as increasingly polarized between two extremes: experience and convenience. “There are two poles which are benefiting from the polarization,” he explained. “On the one hand, it’s convenience; on the other hand, it’s experience.”
Retail parks, he argued, clearly belong to the convenience side — and should not try to imitate shopping centers. And that distinction matters. While dominant shopping centers in metropolitan markets can still attract visitors through leisure, gastronomy and entertainment, retail parks succeed through efficiency. At a retail park, customers arrive with a clear mission: grocery shopping, pharmacies, daily services and quick purchases. The format works because it removes friction. It may even be ‘boring’, as Müller noted. But in investment terms, boring is good.
“Easy parking and high convenience, really catering to meet daily needs — that’s how retail parks should be structured.”
Michael Hiese, Chief Real Estate Officer Kaufland International
The “Defense Play” of Retail Real Estate
Müller openly described the format as a “defense play,” explaining that Union Investment focuses particularly on smaller and operationally efficient retail parks. “We love to acquire retail parks somewhere in between 10,000 to 20,000 square meters, maximum 25,000,” he said. “Easy layout, all on ground floor, all the units with their own separate entrance from the parking.”
For investors, the appeal lies in stable cash flow, necessity-driven tenants and comparatively low operational complexity. Grocery anchors, pharmacies, drugstores and discount-oriented retailers continue to generate reliable footfall, even during economically volatile periods.
Hannah Evans highlighted that Redevco’s long-term experience in the sector confirms this resilience. “We’ve been invested in retail parks since 2001,” she noted. “It continues to be of strategic importance for us.”
Evans explained that the strength of the retail park sector cannot be generalized across Europe, but instead depends heavily on local market relevance. “It’s all about the relevance and the dominance in the local market of the retail park itself,” she said.
“It’s all about the relevance and the dominance in the local market of the retail park itself.”
Hannah Evans, Investment Director Redevco
Smaller, Smarter, More Local
According to Evans, the most successful retail parks are those that understand the evolution of their catchment areas. “What’s really important is not just the size, but actually the evolution of that catchment,” she explained, pointing to population growth and demographic trends as key long-term indicators.
She had a point to which all panelists agreed: Many future retail parks will actually become more localized and smaller. Müller especially criticized oversized concepts and stressed that operational efficiency matters more than scale. Long walking distances and overly complex layouts, he argued, undermine the convenience proposition.
Hiese agreed, noting that Kaufland’s current expansion activity increasingly targets smaller cities and more localized catchment areas. “What we see today is rather a project with about 10 to 15 units,” he said.
Visibility, accessibility and sufficient parking remain critical factors. “If the customer cannot come by car and park easily, then that’s an issue,” Hiese stressed. Although at the same time, retail parks are evolving beyond purely car-oriented destinations. Integrating public transportation, bicycle accessibility and walkability have become important considerations for new developments. Retail parks are no longer seen only as out-of-town retail boxes but increasingly as part of local infrastructure networks combining grocery retail, healthcare, services, food and beverage and omnichannel fulfillment.
“Today’s retail market is increasingly polarized between two extremes: experience and convenience.”
Roman Müller, Head of Investment Management Retail Union Investment
Tenant Mix: Necessity Drives Performance
For Kaufland, the ideal tenant mix is strongly linked to everyday customer needs. “If I have to choose one, I would choose the pharmacy,” Hiese said when asked which retailer best complements a grocery anchor. Beyond that, food and beverage, drugstores and selected fashion or shoe retailers also remain important because they reinforce recurring shopping missions. “Something that covers the necessities of the customers on a short-term basis,” Hiese explained.
Interestingly, the panel was less enthusiastic about integrating traditional large-format categories such as furniture or DIY into convenience-led retail parks. These uses can still work, but they increasingly function as standalone destinations rather than integrated convenience anchors.
Evans noted that retail parks are also becoming more diversified in selected locations. “We see a little bit more healthcare coming in, for example, some more F&B offers as well on our larger parks,” she said. However, she emphasized that these additions should complement — not replace — the core convenience function.
At the same time, retail parks are becoming increasingly relevant for omnichannel retailing. Accessibility, parking availability and proximity to residential catchments make them highly suitable for click-and-collect, last-mile integration and flexible fulfillment models and are another competitive advantage over more complex retail formats.
A Format That Matches Consumer Priorities
Perhaps the clearest takeaway from the discussion was that retail parks are succeeding because they align closely with consumer priorities: Customers increasingly value speed, accessibility, price transparency and efficiency. In uncertain economic conditions, necessity-driven retail tends to outperform discretionary spending categories.
At the same time, investors are attracted by the comparatively stable income profile of grocery-anchored and convenience-led assets.
The panelists agreed that this does not mean all retail parks will automatically succeed. Quality of location, tenant mix, accessibility and local market relevance remain decisive. Retail parks, however, are no longer a secondary retail format. They are increasingly becoming an essential component of modern retail ecosystems.
As Müller summarized, the strength of retail parks lies precisely in their simplicity. In a world often dominated by complexity, simplicity may ultimately prove to be one of the biggest competitive advantages. Yes, retail parks may not be glamorous. They may even be, as Müller deliberately put it, “boring.” Yet in a retail landscape shaped by efficiency, value orientation and everyday convenience, boring has become one of the industry’s most attractive qualities.
