The department store segment drives the retail market to strong results: Almost one in five square metres of take-up in city centre locations is accounted for by re-lettings in former Galeria assets
On the inner-city retail market, the positive letting momentum of the first half of the year continued in the third quarter. The ongoing consolidation processes remain a driving factor behind the lively market activity. Many prominent players are renting very large flagship stores in prime locations, but are significantly reducing their overall number of shops. These include the major international retailers Inditex and TK Maxx, as well as German players such as C&A and Thalia, with the market leader in brick-and-mortar book retailing currently repositioning itself in the top spots in the largest cities. At the same time, there are an increasing number of retailers who are once again seeking to enter the German market (e.g. Arc'terix and Nordic Nest) or are pushing ahead with their strategic expansion plans. In this context, Uniqlo and the Bestseller Group, among others, are very active with their concepts that are still new to brick-and-mortar retail, such as Only & Sons and JJXX, but also with their established brands such as Only. However, the good result was made possible above all by the numerous re-lettings in former Galeria assets.