This year, the ACSP Congress 2026 installed by the Austrian Council of Shopping Places (ACSP) is returning to Vienna in October, with a special focus on experiential and entertainment offerings.
A €5 million investment in Austria’s largest indoor fun park strengthens the repositioning of Center West Graz as a leading leisure and entertainment destination.
In an age in which digital dominates and foot traffic is harder to attract, retail spaces are being reimagined not just as places to shop, but as platforms for experience, education, and emotional connection. In her latest piece, Pınar Yalçınkaya, CEO of MPC Properties, explores how AI, sustainability, and creative activations are helping transform shopping centers across Serbia into vibrant hubs of relevance. From beekeeper suits and dinosaur replicas to podcast stages and robots that greet you by name, MPC is proving that future-proof retail is less about space and more about meaning.
Following the successful contract signing last year, ADVENTICA, the international operator of indoor family entertainment destinations, is set to open its first German location at Rhein-Ruhr Zentrum (RRZ). Spanning 3,600 m², the new facility will enter a multi-week soft-launch phase ahead of its grand opening on October 17, 2025.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) and CineStar are sending a strong signal at Westfield Centro and setting new standards for the cinema experience in Germany. Alongside the extension of the partnership, extensive modernization work will be carried out on the cinema complex.
BALFIN Group is diving into the world of family entertainment with its latest venture, “HyperActive,” a massive gaming and entertainment hub in Kosovo. As part of its expansion strategy, the Group has acquired a 40% stake in the company, setting the stage for significant growth in the region and across Europe.
Major milestone as UK’s largest independent competitive socialising operator targets continued European expansion with ambitious 16,700 sq m dealmaking goal for 2025.
The UK’s leading boutique bowling and competitive socializing concept, Lane7, celebrated the opening of its first German location on Nov. 7 in the heart of Berlin, at Potsdamer Platz.
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.
Climate-controlled indoor entertainment formats are becoming increasingly popular, and are starting to spread outside of the Middle East, for example to Europe, shares Pragma Consulting as part of their latest insights.
Fiba Commercial Properties, a leading investor in commercial real estate in Turkey, Europe, and the Far East, continues to distinguish itself with remarkable achievements. Notably, its İnegöl AVM and Downtown Bursa Life and Entertainment projects have made a significant impact, earning spots as finalists in the prestigious Global RLI Awards 2024—one of the highest honors in the retail and entertainment sector.
After a total of 87 opening days, the “The Mystery of Banksy – A Genius Mind” exhibition about the world-famous graffiti artist and painter Banksy has attracted 40,000 visitors to Citypark Graz.
MPC organized the two art exhibitions – “Art Revolution – Art That Comes to Life” in UŠĆE Shopping Center, and the exhibition of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC photographs “Women: A Century of Change” on the occasion of celebrating Women’s Day, which took place in the three shopping centers: BEO Shopping Center, UŠĆE Shopping Center, and Mercator Center.
The lifestyle center in the city of the Olympiads takes shape between outdoor sports fields, experimental formats, fresh goods markets and latest-generation cinema. 60% of the surfaces have already been signed by leasing department of Nhood Services Italy.
Gravity Active Entertainment and Grosvenor, co-owner and asset manager of Liverpool ONE, announce plans for a 9,290 sq m active experience at the retail destination.
Potsdamer Platz in Berlin will become an arcade game haven this summer. Gamestate will launch an entertainment center inside the Arkaden mall, which will open as a high-street venue after a two-year period of restructuring and modernizing.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) brings Culturespaces on board as the key partner for the mixed-use quarter’s art, culture, and edutainment segment. With Port des Lumières, Culturespaces will open a branch of its digital art center in Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, which will cover an area of around 3,100 sq m.
Following the opening of the Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland last month, a Lotus Property-owned outlet shopping destination is already seeing the benefit of increased traffic.
LabTech, owners of Camden Market (London), have announced the signing of a UK debut site for Babylon Park, a new family entertainment leisure concept, at Camden Market Hawley Wharf (shopping & dining destination).
The O2 has announced that Icon Outlet in London will be reopening its doors to visitors from Friday 18 March, just one month to the day since Storm Eunice damaged the roof of the music, leisure, and entertainment venue.
Urban Playground, in partnership with Objective Media Group is launching The Cube Live at the Manchester Arndale shopping center, the first retail format of the ITV entertainment show, “The cube”.
NEPI Rockcastle has secured a €250 million green term loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, providing long-term financing for green investments across its Central and Eastern European portfolio.
This year, the ACSP Congress 2026 installed by the Austrian Council of Shopping Places (ACSP) is returning to Vienna in October, with a special focus on experiential and entertainment offerings.
Time Out Market will open its first London location in 2028, transforming a landmark building at Piccadilly Circus into the global flagship of its growing food hall portfolio. The project underlines the increasing role of food, culture and entertainment in shaping successful urban destinations.
In his new book Culture Stores, Ibrahim Ibrahim and Koral Ibrahim argue that the future of physical retail lies not in transactions, but in creating places where people connect, participate and belong.
Rather than opening new locations, Cuisyn and Haus der Bäcker are preserving restaurants and bakeries without succession plans. Their acquisition model safeguards jobs, local identity, and vibrant city centers.
CC Real has taken over the management of Avenue Mall Zagreb, further expanding its shopping center management platform in Croatia and highlighting the growing importance of specialized asset and property management across Central and Southeastern Europe.
BIG Poland adds the 11,000 sqm Grodzisk Sfera Park retail park to its portfolio, marking its second asset in the Mazovia region and bringing total GLA to nearly 258,000 sqm.
Transaction represents largest acquisition in Couche-Tard history and establishes controlling position in one of Europe’s leading convenience and digital retail platforms.
With her international expertise in procurement, private label and assortment strategy, she brings valuable input for BBE’s clients and for the company’s strategic development.
Norges Bank Investment Management and Sonae Sierra have formed a joint venture, which has signed an agreement to acquire eight shopping centers in Spain, comprising more than 250,000 sqm of gross leasable area and a gross value of approximately EUR 1.5 billion.
CACI found through its spend data that consumers are increasingly trading down from traditional restaurants in favor of coffee shops and food-to-go concepts, as ongoing cost pressures continue to shape spending habits.
Following store projects across Germany, Roermond, and London, Schwitzke & Partner is supporting Kapten & Son’s European expansion with a new store on Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat.
Gránit Pólus Group has closed a €290 million green loan agreement to refinance the Westend complex, marking Hungary’s largest real estate refinancing transaction in five years.
CC Real secures €130 million refinancing agreement with Erste Bank Croatia for City Center one Split, strengthening the capital structure of one of Croatia’s leading retail assets.
UK retail group Frasers Group has disclosed a 4.16% exposure to British luxury brand Burberry, continuing its strategy of building strategic investments across the fashion sector.
With the new snack bar concept imBrot – Der Sandwich Store on Vienna’s Wipplingerstraße, umdasch The Store Makers has created a brand world that puts the product front and centre without compromise.
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