There are 754 m² of retail space per one thousand people in Brno. In Ostrava this figure is 553 m², in Pilsen 1,073 m² and in Liberec 1208 m². Overall, retail projects in the south Moravian metropolis have a capacity of 280,000 m².
Some existing shopping centers have announced expansions while others should start building just now. All this at a time when consumer spending in the greater Brno area was approximately 10% lower in year-on-year comparison.
Some shopping centers, however, are succeeding in compensating the reduced shopping carts with higher attendance. "Ultimately the majority of our tenants achieved better turnover in spring than the same time last year," said Tomá Jandík, asset manager at DTZ responsible for managing the Královo Pole shopping centre in Brno.
According to the management of this third most visited centre in Brno, the successful development in recent months is the result of investment, improved marketing and a more active partnership with the tenants. "Practice shows that this effect is brought about mainly by discount events, ideally in coordination with the maximum number of tenants, as well as by reaching out to the communities in the catchment area on a year-round basis," added Petr Hlouek, marketing manager for Královo Pole.
In addition to the Královo Pole shopping center with its key tenant Tesco, the top three most popular shopping centres in Brno according to research by Incoma GfK are Galerie Vaòkovka and Olympia. Vaòkovka, as well as Avion Shopping Park Brno for example, are planning to expand within two years, while Královo Pole is preparing to renovate its food court and has made other construction changes. Looking to the future, completely new projects are also in the works such as Aupark Brno and Carina Retail Park týøice.
According to Lenka Hartmanová, analyst at DTZ, there is still potential in some localities in Brno for construction of smaller "neighbourhood" convenience centres and centres oriented towards the smaller catchment area of neighbouring residential areas. "Another trend into the future, in other cities as well, will be the expansion of existing established centers in good locations," said Lenka Hartmanová. Another way is to improve the quality of the tenant mix in the case of Královo Pole they managed to retain brands such as Sportissimo, Orsay, Takko, Deichman, Marionnaud and Yves Rocher, and to gradually fill empty units.
Source: DTZ
