Shopping centres in Poland were reopened on 4 May. This is an indication that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for landlords and tenants, but the ongoing pandemic will have an enormous impact on the entire retail industry. Sylwia Wiszowata-Łazarz and Joanna Kłusek from Cushman & Wakefield talked about the current market situation, changing consumer habits and what actions to take to ensure a safe return of shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores.

Electro-IT and home & deco online retailers take up approximately 370,000 sqm of storage space and this volume could increase by at least 50% in the next two years, due to the development of online commerce, reveals the Romania e-commerce research report launched by CBRE.

Retail which continues to evolve in response to changing consumer preferences and expectations has once again to adapt to the new reality quickly. The global pandemic has left many stores and restaurants shuttered. Industry forecasts that a number of brands will permanently close this year. Every day brings a set of new challenges as we navigate this unexpected crisis. How are the unprecedented challenges of the global pandemic impacting retail? Cushman & Wakefield Poland tried to answer this question in its latest report.

Neinver reopened its five outlet centres in Poland on 4 May under strict health and safety measures and with over 80% of their shops open. The Factory centres in Warsaw, Krakow, Gliwice and Poznan have implemented reopening plans in close coordination with the brands and authorities to ensure the maximum safety of employees and visitors.

In Q1 2020, approximately 50,000 sqm of modern retail space was delivered to the market in Poland. The construction of four schemes was completed: Galeria Chełm (17,500 sqm), Stop Shop Siedlce (14,100 sqm), Galeria Kupiecka in Otwock (10,000 sqm) and Vendo Park Jawor (6,700 sqm). However, due to the onset of the coronavirus epidemic, the new shopping centres have limited possibilities to serve consumers, in the same as all large retails facilities in Poland.

According to a recent report published by Cresa, portfolio transactions are on the rise on the Polish retail market. Two of last year’s three largest commercial real estate transactions were retail portfolio deals: the €600 million acquisition of the shopping centre portfolio from Cromwell Polish Retail Fund by Cromwell Property Group and the disposal of Atrium Koszalin and Atrium Felicity to ECE Group for €298 million.

AFI Europe Romania announces the rescheduling of the opening date for AFI Brasov, the largest shopping centre project to be delivered in Romania in 2020. Initially planned for the spring of this year, the opening date is now scheduled for the autumn of 2020, should the overall social conditions allow it.

The decision of the authorities to temporarily suspend the purchase of goods considered non-essential from shopping centres affects more than 9,000 stores and each day when they are closed equals €15-20 million lost income, according to Cushman and Wakefield Echinox.

Belgian real estate developer Liebrecht & wooD, continues the development of its second outlet centre on the Romanian market, in Cernica, near Bucharest, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, zf.ro reports.

NEPI Rockcastle provided an initial update concerning the impact of the COVID-19 related government measures on its activities in an announcement dated 17 March 2020. Since that date, the authorities in Romania, Serbia and Croatia have increased the safety measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. New measures include temporarily limiting the operations of some of its shopping centres’ tenants.