RETAIL IN CHALLENGING TIMES
Even if the rising infection figures and the danger of a second lockdown are conceivably bad omens for the inner city retail market and the recently stabilized consumer confidence, there is also light at the end of the tunnel in the autumn: with Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, SiNN and Esprit, three well-known retailers were able to end the protective shielding procedure or announce the prompt end of insolvency measures.
Moreover, the letting figures for the A-cities in the months between July and October 2020 also show that the belief in the stationary business, and especially in the top locations, has not been lost in spite of the precarious economic situation at the store and many individual players: "Overall, 6 % more lettings and openings were registered in this period than in the third quarter of 2019. The fact that since the beginning of the year 60 % of space take-up has been accounted for by store sizes over 500 m² should also be seen as an indication that the increased supply may entail risks of prompt subsequent letting on the owner's side, but also brings with it opportunities for retailers who have not previously found the right store layout for their own business," says Christopher Wunderlich, Head of Retail Advisory at BNP Paribas Real Estate.
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