French retail fair SIEC celebrates milestone

French retail property fair SIEC expects over 4,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors this year, co-founder Jean-Michel Silberstein told PropertyEU in an interview.

SIEC, the French retail real estate fair due to be held in Paris from 17-19 June has grown from strength to strength since its inauguration in 2004. This year, the organisers expect to welcome over 4,000 visitors compared to 250 just a decade ago, according to Jean-Michel Silberstein, chief executive of the French Council of Shopping Centers CNCC and one of the founding fathers of the event. The surface area devoted to the exhibition has also expanded significantly over that period.

This year, SIEC will host 1,500 retailers including 300 international players, Silberstein said. ‘The amount of exhibition space rented this year is 30% more than last year. That success is particularly noteworthy given that the French retail sector remains in crisis with consumer sales still on a downward slide.’ The organisers have done a good job to promote the event, he added. ‘Some exhibitors prefer SIEC to Mapic. They find SIEC more specific to the French market and more effective.’

Mapic is held annually in Cannes in November by Reed Midem, which also organises the annual Mipim fair in March. While Mapic has evolved into a leading international retail real estate exhibition, SIEC claims it has become the leading annual event for the French retail sector. ‘We have gradually gained market share and we now see five times as many French visitors as at Mapic although Mapic has a higher visitor number overall,’ Silberstein said.

SIEC is sponsored by leading listed retail companies such as Unibail-Rodamco, Klépierre and Altarea Cogedim. Other leading French sponsors include hypermarket chains Carrefour, Casino and Auchan, Silberstein noted. ‘All these companies have operations all over Europe although France remains the key driver. SIEC is an opportunity for them to bring their staff to meet French retailers. While Mapic has a commercial basis SIEC is a not-for-profit organisation, he added. ‘We are able to provide free entrance and because it is held in Paris with good access to the metro and other public transport it is much cheaper for visitors to attend.’

From oil and steel to ‘master franchisee’
As the head of CNCC, Silberstein’s involvement in the French retail real estate industry goes back two decades further than SIEC to 1984. After an international career in the oil and steel sectors, Silberstein embarked on a new path in that year with the creation of a new retail outlet focussing on children’s clothing. The franchise sector was booming and Silberstein became involved with a large number of brands, mostly in shopping centres, as a ‘master franchisee’.

His interest in developing brands led to the next turn in his career: in 1999 he was appointed CEO of the CNCC. At the time, CNCC had only three staff including its new head and 200 companies as members. Since then, membership has doubled to 400 companies while revenue has increased fourfold. The number of staff has also quadrupled over the period and CNCC now has 12 employees based at its headquarters in Paris.

Silberstein: ‘When I joined, I started to manage the organisation like a real company, like an entrepreneur would do things. CNCC is now a professional organisation that works for its members.’

One of Silberstein’s key goals from the outset was to provide a platform for CNCC’s members to meet and further develop their businesses. Aside from organising SIEC, CNCC also hosts seminars, study tours and other events. CNCC is also member of both the European Public Affairs Committee (EPAC) and the European Executive Board of the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC).

Another key focus for the organisation is its advocacy work on behalf of members and others in the industry. The retail industry is a vital pillar of the French economy, Silberstein pointed out. ‘Our industry employs 450,000 people across the country and generates 15,000 new jobs per annum. It is a successful part of the economy, but it is fragile.’ In this context, government regulation plays a key role in helping to create a healthy environment, he added. ‘A month after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected as president in 2007, shopping centre sales rose 10%. Just after Francois Hollande was elected two years ago, there was no impact, but since then consumer confidence has fallen lower and lower.’

Advocacy and research
Silberstein supports government measures aimed at protecting smaller retailers, but stressed that any new changes should not have a negative impact on the development of the shopping centre industry. ‘The current government hopes to solve problems by adding regulations. But what the industry needs is flexibility, any changes that are made need to be made in a liberal and entrepreneurial way. We are absolutely committed to challenging the government to put forward regulations and legislation that will ensure the continual development of the industry.’

Research is also an important activity for CNCC and the organisation recently embarked on a programme to gain a better understanding of the impact of online sales on bricks-and-mortar shopping centres. In addition, the French shopping centre council has developed two benchmarks to measure the health of the industry and new trends. One index - which is updated on a monthly basis - provides information on sales of 10,000 retailers in 200 shopping centres across the country.

Silberstein describes the index as ‘a very powerful tool’. ‘It allows us to see which segment is booming and which is in difficulty and which types of shopping centres are performing best in terms of location and size. The index goes back many years so we now have a significant history.’

CNCC also provides an index that measures footfall on a bi-weekly basis to show how individual assets are performing.

Consumer sales in France have been falling for the past two years by 1-1.5%, but reforms planned by the new French prime minister Manuel Valls may help remedy the situation, Silberstein said. ‘At the moment, French people are saving, not consuming. They are afraid of unemployment, lower retirement benefits and the taxes they may have to shoulder in the future. My own assessment is that we won’t see any change from these reforms until after the summer. But hopefully we will start seeing a gradual improvement from September.’

Judi Seebus
Editor in chief

PERSONAL PROFILE
Jean-Michel Silberstein
Jean-Michel Silberstein has held the position of Chief Executive of the French Council for Shopping Centers (CNCC) since 1999. Prior to joining CNCC, he worked in the oil and steel industries. In 1984, he moved into the retail world where he became a successful master franchisee as the operator of a number of retail outlets. Silberstein is an expert on retail and shopping centres development issues, with a specialisation in advocacy, sustainability and innovative marketing techniques. He has held the position of chairman of various shopping centre retailers associations in France and is currently a member of several sustainability working groups at government level. He is also a long-time member of both the European Public Affair Committee and the European Executive Board the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC).

FRENCH COUNCIL OF SHOPPING CENTRES (CNCC)
The French Council of Shopping Centers (CNCC) was created in 1983 to promote exchanges between various shopping center professionals; to advocate the interests of its members and to conduct research and develop indices and other benchmark tools. CNCC currently comprises more than 100 shopping centers, retailer associations and other relevant groups and counts approximately 400 corporate companies as members. CNCC members include investors, developers, management companies, retailers and professionals closely associated with the shopping center industry, such as architects, real estate agents and marketing agencies. CNCC is the driving force behind SIEC, the annual retail real estate event held in June at CNIT La Defense Paris.

SIEC
SIEC is the annual conference and exhibition for the French and European retail real estate sector held under the aegis of the French Council of Shopping Centers (CNCC). Covering a surface area of almost 8,000 m2, SIEC offers workshops and conferences, and an exhibition b]platform providing an overview of shopping center locations, new developments and cutting-edge products and services. This year the event will be held from 17-19 June at CNIT, La Defense in Paris. SIEC will host an international conference day on 17 June while 18 & 19 June will be dedicated to the exhibition.
About 1,500 retailers and 170 cities and regions are represented at the exhibition and this year the organisers expect to attract over 1,000 conference attendees and 4,000 visitors.
The exhibition is managed by SIEC director Julie Valode RauberFor more details, go to: www.siec-online.com or email direction@siec-online.com