After receiving the building permit for STOP SHOP Zielona Góra, IMMOFINANZ, the owner of the STOP SHOP retail park brand, chose Mirbud as the general contractor for this project. The construction site was officially taken over by the contractor and construction works have started. The opening of the retail park with a total of 12 stores on nearly 6,700 sqm of space available for lease is planned for spring 2022.

Vitantis Shopping Center, the retail park owned by Revetas Capital, has closed new leasing deals for 3,900 sqm with three companies that will occupy spaces for the next 5-10 years. 

In H1 2021 Dino Polska, a grocery store network continued its geographic expansion. Its store count climbed by 150 in this period to 1,622. That means that save for Sundays a new Dino store was opened in Poland every single day. At the same time, Dino Polska created 2.4 thousand new jobs and at the end of June it had more than 28.2 thousand employees.

NEPI Rockcastle’s turnover in H1 2021 was 28.1% higher than in H1 2020 and 23.1% lower than in H1 2019 (on a property like-for-like basis, excluding hypermarkets and entertainment). The company published its interim financial report for H1 2021.

Following their reopening in May, shopping centres have seen both their revenue and footfall increase to a rate exceeding the performance during the same period last year. The footfall was lower than in the pre-crisis year 2019, but the revenue was comparable; in fact, it was slightly higher. Supermarkets and hypermarkets fare the best in terms of revenue; electronics and health and beauty products are also doing well. The current performance of shopping centres can therefore be described as very strong, with figures exceeding initial expectations, and investors show renewed interest in properties again, with several major retail transactions being planned for this year and the next. To date, office and logistics properties have been selling the best this year.

Trei Real Estate GmbH will be opening its 26th retail park under the Vendo Park brand in Poland. It is located in Oswiecim, a small town of around 40,000 residents in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. This latest Vendo Park has a leasing area of around 5,300 square metres and is leased to seven retailers and a supermarket. In total, Trei invested c. €7.2 million in the property. The new retail park is the first in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The pandemic had a limited impact on the turnover of retail parks compared to shopping malls in Romania, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Retail group NEPI Rockcastle secured a green loan worth €73.5 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank, in a bid to expand its sustainable business infrastructure in Romania. 

Awaiting the reopening of shops and service outlets to go shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar stores, positive footfall results achieved by most shopping centres in May, the opening of a second Primark store with a third one in the pipeline, plus a strong debut of a new Polish off-price concept – these are some of the key news and developments to have taken place in the retail sector in Q2 2021, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The increasing number of vaccinations is allowing the retail sector to catch its breath, with customers returning to ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores. JLL forecasts that total new supply could hit 540,0000 sqm in 2021, marking a return to pre-pandemic performances.