Neil Thompson, CEO FASHION HOUSE Development (FHD), the newly formed company delivering the services of GVA Grimley Outlet Services and Liebrecht & Wood, announced the acquisition of their first Russian plot in Moscow at Mapic 2008. This will be the first Outlet in the Russian marketplace and FHD is currently looking at a further sixteen cities to secure future plots.
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FHD has acquired a plot in Russia for its first Outlet.
Neil Thompson, CEO of FASHION HOUSE Development adds: "This is a new and exciting marketplace that we feel is ready for the FASHION HOUSE branded outlet offer. There is high brand awareness amongst consumers who have money to spend, extremely high demand from our current tenants wanting to move into this market and a good number of investors with Outlet experience looking to come on board. FHD has the experience and expertise to be the first to go into this emerging market. FASHION HOUSE Outlet Centre Moscow is our first of many in Russia."
Patrick Van Den Bossche, co-founder Liebrecht & Wood and FASHION HOUSE Development adds: 'The money for each of this project was raised through private equity by the Liebrecht & Wood Investment Fund and is the first of three very good plots we are closing in on in Ukraine and Russia.'
The FASHION HOUSE Outlet Centre portfolio currently includes three Outlet centres in Poland and one in Bucharest opening on the 26th November 2008. The Moscow site will be opened under the FASHION HOUSE Outlet Centre brand and will be managed and operated by GVA Grimley Outlet Services.
Brendon O'Reilly, Director, GVA Grimley Outlet Services and FASHION HOUSE Developments, explains: "Currently Russia has no Outlets and yet there is the potential for at least 20 based on population, brand awareness and potential spend. The interesting thing for us was that the original drive to look into this market came from our existing tenants who are desperate to move into these areas. We work as a partner with out tenants and wanted to look into meeting this need. FHD was the ideal vehicle to move this forward."
He adds: "This is all good news for the Outlet sector, however, it is not something that any investor or developer can do without the right support in place. Those interested in getting involved without specialist Outlet knowledge have found it a very risky market to break into but once involved and with the right specialist Outlet team in place most have reaped the rewards and want the potential to increase their activity."
Source: GVA Grimeley / MAPIC
