Global developer and shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has reopened 65 of its 90 shopping centres globally after the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions imposed across European and US cities.
This follows announcements by authorities in Los Angeles and France on 26 and 29 May respectively.
With the remainder of the group’s centres seeking to relaunch by 8 June in Spain and 15 June in London, URW said it expects to have at least 87% of its shopping centres - approximately 80% by book value - open by 15 June.
URW said that this number was likely to increase as further US states and counties confirm the end of their restrictions. Five of the US centres not yet open have been providing delivery services.
Christophe Cuvillier, group CEO of URW, commented: 'While of course things are not yet back to normal, it is very encouraging to see so many of the group’s centres able to trade again, while utilising all appropriate and required measures to ensure the health and safety of our visitors, tenants and employees.
He added that 'health & beauty, sports, home equipment and children’s clothing are believed to be among the best performing segments', and reported that 'the good initial performance of the recently re-opened large French assets provides strong reassurance, especially considering that significant restrictions still apply on major footfall drivers such as restaurants and cinemas, and that most governments have encouraged companies and employees to continue to favour homeworking.'
European picture
In Germany and Austria, the group’s centres relaunched from late April/early May, with footfall growing to at or above 80% of the prior year level. The URW assets in the Czech Republic have also seen footfall at around 80% of the prior year level over the past three weeks.
In France, the centres which re-opened on 11 May are now seeing footfall above 60% of the prior year level, with Rennes Alma reaching 90%. URW said it also hoped for an uptick in sales once restrictions on public transport use in France were lifted from 2 June, due to the return of 'walkthrough' visitors.
Centres in the Paris region, which only re-opened on 29 or 30 May, saw footfall on Saturday 30 May back to around 65% of last year.
Although URW is yet to receive formal sales reporting, tenants have generally seen higher conversion rates and basket sizes than expected, with visitors returning for specific shopping objectives, the group noted.
The French statistics agency, Insee, reported it expects sales to have rebounded strongly since the deconfinement and, according to press reports, in many sectors to levels above last year, albeit this may be driven partly by pent-up demand from the lock down period.
In addition to Sweden and the Netherlands, where full restrictions were never applied, the group’s centres are also now trading in Poland, Slovakia, and Denmark. In Spain, three of the group’s centres are open (Garbera, Glòries and Bonaire) while the rest are expected to relaunch by 8 June. In the UK, the re-opening date provided by the government is 15 June.
