Foreign debuts in Poland’s new shopping centres

After delivering to the market nearly 135,000 sqm during the last three months, the total stock of modern retail space at the end of Q3 2017 reached approximately 11.3 million sqm. Almost 620,000 sqm of retail space is still under construction of which 29% will be completed this year. The total supply by 2017 is estimated at the level of 350,000 sqm – according to the latest report by Colliers International.

In Q3 2017, three new shopping centres and extensions of existing schemes were completed, which accounted for 88.5% and 11.5% respectively of the quarter‘s supply. Galeria Północna in Warsaw (64,000 sqm) was the largest project opened in the past period as well as the first phase of IKEA Lublin (33,500 sqm) and Vivo! Krosno (21,200 sqm).

New brands on the Polish market

Several new retail chains had their debuts in Poland in Q3 2017. Some of them – Hamleys, Russian brands from Melon Fashion Group (Love Republic and Zarina) as well as new concepts such as 4F – 4Faces (sport), KappAhl – newbie (articles for babies) – opened their stores in Galeria Północna. Opening of the first full-assortment Victoria‘s Secret in Arkadia in Warsaw was a highlight of this quarter. Nissa, a Romanian fashion brand, is another tenant who debuted in Arkadia. On the other hand, the Springfield brand decided to withdraw from the Polish market.

“The upcoming debuts of retail chains in Poland are connected with the opening of Wroclavia shopping centre in Q4 this year. The Spanish fashion brand – Sfera, Ukrainian – Goldi, and new food concept by AmRest – Blue Frog will open their units in Wrocław,” says Katarzyna Michnikowska, Associate Director, Research and Consultancy, Colliers International.

Polish brands are successfully expanding abroad. The first Reserved store was opened in London, at Oxford Street, as a major event of this quarter. At the same time, an on-line sale was set up by this chain in the British market.

Vacancy

The average vacancy rate in shopping centres for the eighteen biggest Polish cities was 4.1%. The lowest vacancy rate among major retail markets was recorded in Warsaw (2.6%) whereas, the largest amount of available space was in Katowice (5.9%). Among large cities (150,000-400,000 inhabitants), the highest rate of vacant retail space was noted in Radom (10.9%) and the lowest in Bielsko-Biała (1.3%).

Press release by Colliers International.