Retail and shopping centers across Europe are still searching for a stable post-pandemic positioning. The Covid-19 crisis marked a clear turning point, with many assets still facing lower footfall and uneven sales recovery. At the same time, structural pressure is increasing: tenants are consolidating, focusing on prime locations, or reducing store sizes. Vacancies have become a persistent issue at many locations.
Vacancies Reshape Tenant Mix
The common response is well known. More space is allocated to food, beverage, and leisure concepts in an effort to increase dwell time. In parallel, large vacant units are increasingly filled by discount retailers — something that would have been avoided in many schemes just a few years ago. Chains such as Woolworth or Action are expanding aggressively, taking advantage of available space. However, this shift often comes with side effects: tenant mix, positioning, and customer perception of malls are gradually changing and downgrading.
A Different Leasing Strategy
Against this backdrop, a recent letting in EKZ West Innsbruck, Austria stands out. Instead of opting for another discount format, the operator has leased more than 1,200 sq m to boesner, a specialist retailer for professional art supplies.
The company, which by now operates 46 shops across the DACH region, France and Sweden, will open its first location in Western Austria in spring 2026, complementing existing stores in Vienna and Graz. The new store targets a specific audience: artists, creative professionals, and educational institutions. Its product range includes over 26,000 items, from painting materials and canvases to framing and art literature.
“We have already built a customer base in Tyrol and South Tyrol. With this location, we can now serve them directly on site and combine our product range with personal advice,” says Sascha Kuntel, Managing Director of boesner Austria.
Positioning Through Specialization
The concept fits into the broader positioning of the asset. Since its opening in 2010, EKZ West has combined retail with educational uses, including a secondary school on site and proximity to other institutions. The addition of a specialized retailer like boesner reinforces this link and introduces a distinct customer group to the center.
In a market where many shopping centers are converging towards similar tenant mixes, this approach highlights an alternative path: instead of filling space quickly, some operators are using vacancies to sharpen their profile. Whether such differentiated concepts can be scaled remains to be seen — but in Innsbruck, it marks a notable departure from current leasing patterns.
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