German retailers moving back into city centres

MUNICH - German retailers are increasingly heading for city centres, real estate experts said Tuesday at the Expo Real commercial property trade fair in Munich.

Frank Poerschke, management spokesman at Commerz Grundbesitz Investmentgesellschaft (CGI), said that the city centre is becoming increasingly popular for German investors. 'In contrast to other countries, especially those of southern Europe, there is a very strong tendency in Germany to move back into the city centre,' he said.

'This is not only because the politicians responsible for inner cities want that, but also because customers and visitors find this form attractive,' he added. Models where shopping centres are integrated into the city centre are especially popular. 'Consumers confirm that they find integrated models in the inner city attractive by going and shopping there, and not in unattractive buildings outside the city,' he commented.

Poerschke said that Germany offers more possibilities in terms of space for integrated shopping centre developments in the town centre than other countries. 'If you compare this with southern Europe, you don't have the possibility of developing large-scale projects in Italian or Spanish town centres, so shopping centres are developed on green field sites. In those countries you have much more polarisation between the town centres and the large retailers outside the city.'

Wolfgang Bays, partner and managing director at Brune Consulting Dusseldorf, stressed the role of emotion in creating different shopping formats. 'In the future we will see a very clear separation between the less emotional, shopping for basic necessities scene, which has a range of formats from specialist shopping centres to large out-of-town shopping centres, in contrast to the very emotion-driven experience shopping, which has leisure and urban qualities.' Bays also predicted a 'renaissance' of pedestrian precincts.