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Retail real estate is facing far-reaching changes. Which concepts will make locations future-proof? Which strategies prevent vacancies? And how can a smart tenant mix ensure long-term success? The exciting Retail PIN forum at this year’s Retail Real Estate Congress 2025 (HIK) in Berlin will provide answers to all these questions.

Gift cards offer more than just convenience for customers—they are a treasure trove of data for retailers. By analyzing gift card purchases and redemptions, retailers can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns, which can then be used to optimize sales strategies and drive business growth.

Pop-up shops are more than just a trend; they are a valuable business opportunity and here to stay. Without having to commit to a long-term commercial lease, pop-up stores promote brands, concepts, services or products in a short period of time. Building on this idea, Storefront, a sharing-economy company, provides short-term retail spaces for rent to companies through an online platform, used specifically as pop-up retail locations.

Regio Data’s annual retail chain expansion analysis brings Austria as an example, revealing that store networks are hardly growing any more, with retreat and consolidation dominating instead. Of the 732 retail chains from 24 sectors analyzed, many are putting on the brakes, and this trend is largely prevalent across the whole of Europe. However, there are also companies that are keen to expand. Online retailers and non-food discounters are squeezing out specialized retailers – with noticeable consequences for the retail landscape.

Opportunities for mutual growth and improvement are made possible by data sharing with tenants at shopping centers or multi-retailer locations, states Uroš Blagojević, Property Management Director at MPC Properties. Retailers and their tenants can synchronize strategies and develop complementary offers by sharing insights, such as aggregate customer demographics, peak shopping times, and purchase trends.

Retail real estate is back on the menu and continues to qualify as a significant portfolio component in the portfolios of institutional real estate investors, says Steffen Hofmann, Managing Partner at ambas. Even very large assets have proven eligible for transactions in the challenging investment market environment. Therefore, he is rather optimistic about the upcoming months. In this interview, he takes a look at the 2025 investment market.

“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.

EuroCIS 2025 in Düsseldorf promises pioneering innovations for the retail sector under the motto “Go Beyond Today”. The focus will be on topics such as artificial intelligence, smart stores and cybersecurity in order to make the retail sector safer and more efficient. Visitors can look forward to the latest technologies, exciting presentations and international exhibitors. In an interview, Elke Moebius, Director EuroCis at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, provides exciting insights into the focal points of this year’s event.

Coresight Research, a research and advisory firm specializing in retail and technology, and NextRivet, a digital innovation and implementation consultancy specializing in retail real estate, announced their strategic partnership and the launch of CoreRivet. The CoreRivet service is designed to empower retail and real estate executives with actionable insights and cutting-edge technologies that drive sales growth, operational efficiencies, and elevated customer engagement.

Over the past couple of years, it has become evident that retail is seeing a significant resurgence. This is across shopping centers, large destination indoor malls, and retail parks and outlets, explains Mark Bruce, Data & Insights Director at Mallcomm. While some may have dismissed the retail sector, others have recognized that despite some challenges, there is a great opportunity.

Over the past decade, the retail landscape has undergone a seismic transformation redefining the very essence of the sector. Customers’ expectations of convenience, personalization, experience, community, and sustainability have changed dramatically. The purpose of physical stores is being redefined, with goods and products taking a backseat to experiences. Today, successful retail destinations are those that cultivate connection, joy, and community.

Retail parks have established themselves as one of the most stable asset classes in the retail sector in recent years. Making clever adjustments to the tenant mix ensures both the security and long-term development of a retail property. That fact is clearly demonstrated by a number of assets in MEC’s portfolio, in particular, by the Dreieich Nordpark case study, as Christian Thiele, Head of Leasing Management at MEC, explains.

The disposable income gap between Central and Eastern Europe’s (CEE) economies, which are enjoying solid economic expansion, and stagnating Western European countries is narrowing fast. This is buoying consumer spending in markets like Poland and Romania and attracting international and regional retailers to large modern shopping centers that dominate the CEE’s shopping and experience landscapes, while also offering higher margins and lower costs, NEPI Rockcastle’s latest ‘White Paper for Growth’ research concludes.

ACREM is the mall management company behind TEG (Tirana East Gate). The shopping center in Albania set a completely new standard regarding professionalism and efficiency, resulting in the Albanians not having to hide behind the Western industry giants in terms of footfall and catchment areas. ACROSS Management Director Reinhard Winiwarter discussed with Elda Hysenbelli, CEO at ACREM, and Joana Korimi, Head of Marketing at ACREM, what mall management and marketing à la TEG looks like, what their customers demand, and why some customers feel so comfortable in the center that they even get married there.

“We need something that is consistent between retailer, operator, landlord and investor, and can be the key behind every decision, and shopping experience is the obvious answer.” Our latest Retail Talk, “Uncovering the REAL Issues, Problems and Challenges of Retail Real Estate”, revealed that many of the retail industry’s current issues can only be tackled if first we solve the problems that stem from within, as skills such as leadership, fast adaptability to the changing market environment, courage, as well as mutual understanding during the decision-making process are necessary yet barely present in the industry.

The challenges facing the retail real estate sector are more significant than ever. Future-oriented solutions for retail properties such as retail parks are urgently needed – this is precisely where the Retail PIN comes in. This newly founded think tank, an initiative of six leading companies in the retail real estate industry, pools strategic expertise and a shared vision: to actively and sustainably shape the future of retail locations.

Steffen Eric Friedlein is Managing Director Leasing Services at ECE Market places and, as such, is a member of the prestigious MAPIC Awards jury. In an interview with ACROSS, the manager talks about why positive examples are more important than ever, especially in economically challenging times, what constitutes outstanding performance in the retail real estate industry, and how he and his team implement the principle of excellence across the ECE portfolio.

With the FREY Group as a new financially strong property partner providing robust support, ROS Retail Outlet Shopping is setting the stage for further growth and enhanced premium outlet shopping destinations across Europe. Major expansions at four centers and two new developments are set to be completed within two years.

GRAI 3/2024 is driven by greater consumer confidence. The index compiled by Union Investment and GfK sees increased signs of recovery in eight European countries. The most significant increases are visible in Sweden and the Czech Republic, while overseas regions are stabilizing at a weak level.

The challenge is to transform the shopping center from a place of consumption to a world of experience that seamlessly combines leisure, entertainment, and shopping. In his guest article, Sebastian Guth, Managing Director of 21Media, explains the role of B2B and B2C marketing in the transition of brick-and-mortar retail and shopping centers.