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retail talk

Industry leaders at the ACROSS Retail Talk. Clockwise, from top left: Reinhard Winiwarter (ACROSS), Thomas Reichenauer (ROS Retail Outlet Shopping / FREY Group), Cristina Santos (Sonae Sierra), Marek Noetzel (NEPI Rockcastle), Klaus Striebich (RaRE Advise) and Avi Alkaş (Alkaş & HAN Spaces)

Placemaking in 2026: The New Value

The final ACROSS Retail Talk of 2025 indicates that retail enters 2026 with sharper priorities and clearer opportunities. How resilience, recalibration, and disciplined investment are setting the tone for the year ahead.

ACROSS Retail Talks /// Wrapping Up 2025 – Predicting & Shaping 2026

The final ACROSS Retail Talks of 2025 brought together four senior industry leaders – Avi Alkaş (Alkaş & HAN Spaces), Cristina Santos (Sonae Sierra), Marek Noetzel (NEPI Rockcastle), and Thomas Reichenauer (ROS Retail Outlet Shopping / FREY Group) – moderated by Klaus Striebich and Reinhard Winiwarter. The panel looked back at the year 2025 and ahead towards 2026 – a year which will be shaped by customer-centric strategies powered by data, AI, and operational agility.

credit: ACROSS

ACROSS Retail Talk: Rethinking Brick-And-Mortar Retail — “Continuous, Step-By-Step Improvement Of The Shopping Experience Is Key”

“Change for the sake of change is not a good concept because it just creates extra costs. If a retailer´s concept and strategy work as intended then offering occasional surprises, and introducing smaller changes is more beneficial. Drastic changes must be kept as a last resort for cases where a concept or strategy is not working.” Our latest ACROSS Retail Talk, “Rethinking Brick-and-Mortar Retail By Increasing the Shop Floor Experience,” revealed, among other things, that to avoid predictability and ensure an exciting shopping atmosphere at a location, having the right mix of data and creativity is necessary, as it can turn an average, predictable visit to a location into a memorable experience.

credit: ACROSS, BBE, umdasch, Lane 7

„Entertainment, Shopping, F&B — Rethinking Brick-and-Mortar Retail by increasing the Shop Floor Experience“ /// ACROSS RETAIL TALK: Sept. 25th, 2024, 4pm (CET), Online/Zoom

The next ACROSS Retail Talk “Rethinking Brick-and-Mortar Retail by increasing the Shop Floor Experience” will discuss how retailers and shopping center managements can inspire and retain customers by offering true retail experiences. Join us to learn about expert insights from top professionals in the industry.

credit: ACROSS

ACROSS Retail Talk: “Retail And The Hotel Industry” – A Possible Win-Win-Win Situation For Investors, Developers, And Hoteliers

“Development in the future can only be a win-win-win situation, if you can tighten the building, and make it more profitable on the space per sq m” – Making use of the available space as efficiently as possible is one of the key components of a successful retail-hotel synergy. The latest ACROSS Retail Talk, “Retail and the Hotel industry” sheds light on the relationship between Retail and Hotel, and how they might profit from each other, with the high-caliber panel concluding: Combining the retail and hotel sectors works best if the market and demand for it is clear, and if the best possible partners are sought out, especially on a local level.

“Retail And The Hotel Industry” – A Profitable Partnership For The Benefit Of All? /// ACROSS Retail Talk: June 18th, 2024, 4 PM (CET), ONLINE/ZOOM

Three years after the coronavirus pandemic, people are traveling again. City trips are particularly popular. This trend is also boosting retail at tourist locations. If tourism and hospitality are to play an important role in the future of retail (and they must), then the presence and location of hotels is crucial. The combination of hotel and retail sectors offers many opportunities. Nevertheless, the two asset classes have hardly been connected to date.

Shopping centers should adopt the successful concepts of their outlet colleagues?

“Could this be the right time for the shopping center industry to pull itself together and adopt the successful concepts of its outlet colleagues? – This question was raised at the end of the first Retail Talk in 2023. On February 15, 2023, a top-class panel discussed “Outlets – A Winning Retail Format.”

Frasers Reportedly Leads Race for Harvey Nichols

Frasers Group has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to acquire struggling British luxury department store Harvey Nichols, as the retailer seeks a deal to secure its future.

Aareal Bank Arranges €128 Million Facility for Lighthouse Properties

Aareal Bank has arranged a €128 million top-up facility for Lighthouse Properties to refinance and expand the financing of its Spanish retail portfolio.

Report: Kaufland Acquires Galeria Property in Viernheim

Kaufland has reportedly acquired the Galeria property adjoining the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum in Viernheim. The reported transaction could change the plans for the site, where sister company Lidl had previously announced a new store.

Trade Estates to Acquire 50% of Sofia South Ring Mall

Greek retail real estate investor Trade Estates has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Sofia South Ring Mall in Bulgaria for €49.35 million.

NEPI Rockcastle Secures €250 Million Green Loan from EBRD

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.

Next commits to major investment at its Cribbs store, UK

Bath and Body Works is also set to open its first South West store after signing at Cribbs

BWP expands Frasers Plus remit with East Mids appointment

BWP Group has been appointed to deliver the integrated marketing remit for Frasers Plus Designer Outlet East Midlands.

Spotlight on Entertainment: ACSP Congress 2026 /// Vienna, Austria, 13.10.2026.

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 Brings Its Flagship Market Home to London

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.

New Book by Ibrahim Ibrahim Explores the Next Evolution of Physical Retail

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.

Bold moves, not replacement: F&B in placemaking

F&B concepts that redefine placemaking — and why developers cannot ignore them anymore.

A new model for saving local food businesses

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.

The end of retail-only destinations

Homeira Amiri, co-founder of the think tank Future of the Guest Economy explores, how F&B is reshaping the value logic of shopping centers.

CC Real Expands Croatian Management Platform

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 acquires Grodzisk Sfera Park, expands to 13 properties

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.

Umdasch names new CEO for The Store Makers’ Division

Umdasch Group appoints Dr. Christian Herbinger as CEO of its store construction division, succeeding Silvio Kirchmair effective January 2027.

Canadian Couche-Tard to acquire majority stake in Żabka

Transaction represents largest acquisition in Couche-Tard history and establishes controlling position in one of Europe’s leading convenience and digital retail platforms.

Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier welcomes new Lindt flagship boutique

Lindt will open a 330-square-meter flagship boutique at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in Q4 2026.

Anika Schmidt joins BBE Handelsberatung Management Board

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.

NBMI & Sonae Sierra’s joint venture: Eight shopping centers acquired in Spain

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.

Cafés surge as consumers trade down: Hospitality trends H1 2026

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.

Online growth & AC boom: CECONOMY lifts adjusted EBIT 22% in Nine Months

CECONOMY grew nine-month sales to €18.4 billion and adjusted EBIT to €342 million, driven by online growth and a summer AC boom.

Historic architecture and retail: Store design by Schwitzke & Partner

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.

Record €290 million refinancing for Westend, Hungary

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.