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PROJECTS, TRENDS AND STRATEGIES

Outlet centers are evolving to enhance customer experience, with renovations playing a key role in transforming shopping into a social experience. NEINVER, a leading outlet developer, investor, and operator, is actively advancing its plan to modernize the portfolio with refurbishments completed or underway across its Spanish and Italian portfolio. ACROSS spoke with José María Escobar, NEINVER’s Technical Director, to learn more about the latest and upcoming renovation projects.

ECE Work & Live is developing a “Ruby” brand hotel in Copenhagen for the first time. This is also the Ruby Group’s first location in Denmark. The announcement follows the recent signing of a long-term lease agreement between ECE as project developer and Ruby Group as operator for the planned hotel building in the Frederiksberg district in the heart of Copenhagen.

The renovation and modernization process at the KING CROSS Zagreb shopping center has reached a significant stage of development: on 27 February, the part of the mall that has been completely renovated and modernized in recent months while business operations continued reopened.

LATEST TRENDS IN ASSET AND CENTER MANAGEMENT

“We are a growth-minded company,” states Vasco Santos, Global Sales & Leasing Director at Ingka Centres. The Scandinavian-rooted, globally active company operates in Europe, China, the US, and is establishing its presence in India. Its main goal is to create meeting places that go beyond shopping and provide real, meaningful value to the community. Despite the company’s success, especially in China, Santos expresses its continuous commitment and appetite for the European market but also stresses that the local market can learn a lot from international examples.

DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS IN THE OUTLET INDUSTRY

In today’s fast-paced retail landscape, data is no longer just a luxury – it’s the foundation for staying competitive and future-ready. At ROS Retail Outlet Shopping, we understand that success isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about how we use that data to address challenges, boost performance, and spark growth.

Trinity Capital is one of Bulgaria’s most prominent developers and owners of retail real estate. After developing retail parks and acquiring shopping centers, the company is now entering the market for designer outlets and planning Bulgaria’s first outlet village in Sofia, which will be in the direct vicinity of the largest retail park in the Balkans, which belongs to Trinity as well. Stoyan Kolev, CEO of Trinity Capital, explains why Bulgaria is ready for an outlet, his plans for the location, why the combination of outlet and retail park makes sense, and why entertainment and gastronomy are essential keys to more footfall.

STRATEGIES OF RETAILERS

Changing consumer habits, rising living costs, and a growing awareness of the right balance between price and quality have intensified competition for customers. A recent study by Statista focusing on Germany’s consumer market explores how consumers make purchasing decisions today, what influences their behavior, and which long-term trends are emerging.

LATEST TRENDS

Like no other German shopping center, “The Playce” at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is a shopping and cultural destination that focuses on food and beverage, leisure, and retail stores that are new to Berlin or unique in their concepts. One and a half years after its opening, The Playce is now 96 percent leased. ACROSS discusses why now is the best time to be part of the project with Roger Goyk, Director of Retail Brookfield Properties, and Jonathan Doughty, Special Project Manager at ECE.

The food hall market in Europe has seen significant growth and transformation over recent years. In less than a decade, the number of European food halls has almost doubled, with the UK, France and Italy leading the pack. Despite a pandemic and cost of living crisis across the continent, landlords and operators are seeing the benefit of the flexible model for our ever-changing modern world. There’s even been some new openings since C&W released our ‘Food Halls of Europe’ report in July 2024, including Time Out Market in Barcelona and Mercato Metropolitano in Ilford, London.

As part of its ambitious strategy to grow the number of sites it operates, entertainment and leisure operator, the Lane7 Group, has announced the opening of its first venue in continental Europe at The Playce, Potsdamer Platz in Berlin in September, as well as two venues opening in Dublin in the coming months. While continuing the pace of its UK expansion – with a second London venue, in Camden, opening in October – Lane7 now seeks to grow its European portfolio by some 10 venues over the next 2 years.

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY

Why do we visit shopping centers? Is it merely for shopping, or are we seeking entertainment, a place to meet, or perhaps all of these experiences combined? Despite the diverse reasons that draw us to shopping centers, one expectation remains consistent across all visits: the demand for quality.

This year´s SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 aimed at fostering cooperation between Japan and Finland by providing a platform for tech companies of both countries to promote sustainability technology and ESG principles. Markus Porvari, President and CEO of HyperIn, represented the company as a keynote speaker at the conference. HyperIn has demonstrated how a startup can successfully grow into a thriving enterprise, showcasing real cases of how some of the leading companies in the Nordics are succeeding with sustainable technology.

“Octopus is not just creating technology; we are building an entire ecosystem that mirrors the online world’s interactivity in the physical world, all centered around our screens and the Octopus app. We are crafting an environment where digital engagement is as natural and intuitive as using a smartphone or computer,” explains Emre Yıldız, CEO and Founder of Octopus, in his interview with ACROSS.

PLANS OF INVESTORS AND OWNERS

Union Investment has sold a retail park in Eidelstedt, Hamburg to the LHI Group. The property at Hörgensweg 5 in north-west Hamburg was added to the portfolio of institutional open-ended real estate fund UniInstitutional European Real Estate in 2007, making it one of the oldest holdings in the fund.

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