ICSC European Outlet Conference - Value Retail News

Plus: 

Weather can’t dampen FOCs 

Troyes finds a new owner 

Fingen’s plans for China 

AsIAn 

Outlets 

Outlet retail 

in the Balkans 

Sofia Outlet Center, Sofia, Bulgaria 

Globe Outlets starts construction 

Loyalty reigns in Holland 

E-outlets could be a threat

STYLISH SOLUTION 

FOR EXCESS STOCK 

More luxury brands than ever before 

are turning to McArthurGlen’s 

designer outlet villages for a stylish 

and profitable solution for excess 

stock. Our 19 villages across Europe 

showcase great brands to 75 million 

customers a year in thoughtfully 

designed environments. 

And there’s more.We have new 

outlets under way in Hamburg and 

Athens, and we are expanding six 

of our existing centres near Naples, 

Venice, Rome, Florence, Düsseldorf, 

Berlin andVienna. 

To learn more about how we 

can help your business improve 

cashflow, contactVictor Busser 

on +44 (0)20 7535 2300 or 

v.busser@mcarthurglen.com. 

www.mcarthurglengroup.com 

ALBERTA FERRETTI 

ARMANI 

BALLANTYNE 

BALLY 

BLUMARINE 

BRIONI 

BULGARI 

BURBERRY 

CALVIN KLEIN 

COSTUME NATIONAL 

DOLCE & GABBANA 

ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA 

ESCADA 

ETRO 

FENDI 

GUCCI 

JIL 

SANDER 

KENZO 

LA PERLA 

MARNI 

MISSONI 

MONCLER 

MULBERRY 

NICOLE FARHI 

PAUL SMITH 

POLO RALPH LAUREN 

PRADA 

ROBERTO CAVALLI 

SERGIO ROSSI 

TAG HEUER 

TOMMY HILFIGER 

TRUSSARDI 

VALENTINO 

VERSACE

PAGE 4 PAGE 8 

PAGE 12 

sTAFF 

PETER sHARPE 

ICSC ChaIrman 

International Outlet Journal is a publication for the 

non-U.S. factory outlet industry. Copyright © 2010 

In s I d e 

4 Weather can’t dampen FOC sales 

8 GVA opens Sofia Outlet Center 

9 Planned outlet centers’ updates 

10 Resolution acquires Troyes center 

12 Asia update: China, Japan, Korea 

16 Outlet marketing: feeling the love 

18 Stable launches loyalty program 

20 Outlet leasing stays strong 

21 Trade Groups discuss initiatives 

22 Deepan Khiroya warns of e-outlets 

CONTENTS 

Vol. 6 no. 3 sUMMER 2010 

MARCUs WILd 

ICSC ChaIrman, EUrOPEan 

advISOry bOard 

MICHAEL P. KERCHEVAL 

ICSC PrESIdEnt and CEO 

RUdOLPH E. MILIAn, sCsM, sCMd 

ICSC SEnIOr vP 

ICsC EUROPE 

London, +44 20 7976 3100 

icsc.europe@icsc.org 

ICsC/IOJ 

2519 n. mcmullen booth rd. 

Suite 510-356 

Clearwater, FL 33761 

+1 727 781 7557 

LIndA HUMPHERs 

Editor in Chief ext. 3 

lhumphers@icsc.org 

RAndy GdOVIn 

art director ext. 4 

rgdovin@icsc.org 

KAREn KnOBELOCH 

advertising Prod. mgr. ext. 2 

kknobeloch@icsc.org 

sALLy sTEPHEnsOn 

Senior advertising Executive 

+1 847 835 1617 

Fax: +1 847 835 5196 

sstephenson@icsc.org 

Advertiser Index 

Fashion house ..................................... bC 

Globe Outlets ........................................ 15 

Gva Outlets ............................................. 5 

henderson Global Investors ............... IbC 

mcarthurGlen ......................................IFC 

neinver ................................................. 11 

value retail ............................................ 7 

ICSC European Outlet Conference ........ 19 

SUMMER 2010 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal 3

FOC PERFORMANCE REPORT 

despite weather and volcanoes 

FOC sales maintain their edge 

By LIndA HUMPHERs 

Editor in Chief 

For an industry that’s so dependent 

on tourism and weather, 

predicting how sales will be for 

any given period in the European outlet 

sector is difficult. 

This year brought abysmal weather 

in the form of snow and ice storms in 

January and February, and just as life was 

settling down and shoppers were looking 

forward to the incredible lightness of 

spring, the bizarre ash cloud appeared. 

Even though Mt. Eyjafjallajokull, also 

called Mt. Unpronounceable, erupted in 

March, the Icelandic volcano’s ash cloud 

didn’t cause any problems until mid- 

April. By then, Easter was a safe and 

happy memory. 

But the rest of the usually glorious 

month of April was thrown into turmoil 

as the ash cloud formed and hung in the 

sky, leading to the largest air-traffic shutdown 

since World War II. The weeklong 

airport closures and flight cancellations 

caused millions of passengers to be 

stranded and millions of others to call 

off upcoming trips. As of mid-May, 

there were still periodic disruptions from 

the ash cloud throughout Europe. 

Despite the difficulties, FOC sales in 

Value Retail’s Kildare Village, which opened in Ireland in 

2006, recorded its highest number of visitors this year during 

Easter week. 

4 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal SUMMER 2010 

new tenants accounting for nearly 13,000 sf at McArthurGlen’s East Midlands Designer 

Outlet in Derbyshire, England have helped the 12-year-old center’s sales performance. 

the first few months of the year have 

held their own quite nicely. 

McArthurGlen says its seven UK 

outlet centers enjoyed an impressive 

Easter weekend, with sales up by 18 

percent over last year and footfall up 

almost 11 percent. The developer’s 

centers in York, Livingston and Swindon 

recorded exceptional numbers, which 

Henrik Madsen, McArthurGlen’s managing 

director for the UK and Northern 

Europe, attributes to a couple of factors. 

“Record sales and footfall were driven 

by our continually 

improving retail 

offer, as well as the 

launch of our new 

advertising campaign 

spanning both local 

and national media,” 

Madsen says, adding 

that the centers’ designer 

brands posted 

double-digit growth 

of 19 percent for the 

Easter selling season. 

Key items that 

McArthurGlen shoppers 

bought included 

tea dresses, strappy 

sandals, handbags and 

swimwear. 

McArthurGlen 

Designer Outlets are located in Ashford, 

Bridgend, Cheshire Oaks and East Midlands, 

as well as in the aforementioned 

Livingston, Swindon and York. 

■ ■ ■ 

Value Retail’s Frank Blanchette says 

heavy snows cost the developer a number 

of days at its designer villages in the 

UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Belgium and 

Germany. 

“Still, business has remained strong 

through the Easter trading period and 

throughout the travel disruptions caused 

by the volcanic ash,” Blanchette says. 

“During the first quarter across our 

portfolio gross sales increased by 20 percent; 

footfall increased by 9 percent and 

comp-store sales growth was just over 

10 percent.” 

The developer recorded a strong rise 

in spend per visitor throughout the 

portfolio, Blanchette says, adding, “that’s 

not a typical first-quarter pattern. We 

believe that this was driven in part by a 

sharp increase in visitors from China, 

Southeast Asia and South America to 

our villages in the UK, France, Spain, 

Italy and Germany. We expect that this 

trend will grow as we come into the 

peak travel season.” 

All nine Value Retail outlet villages are 

trading very well in their respective mar- 

(Continued on page 6)

expertise 

Nobody knows Outlets better 

Current projects in: 

• Bulgaria • Czech Republic • Denmark • Germany 

• Hungary • Italy • Poland • Romania • Russia • Serbia 

• Slovenia • Spain • Switzerland • Ukraine 

For more information please contact: 

Brendon O’Reilly, 

Director, GVA Grimley Ltd. 

+44 (0)7831 381 405 

brendon.o’reilly@gvagrimley.co.uk 

www.gvagrimley.co.uk/outlets

FOC PERFORMANCE REPORT 

(Continued from page 4) 

kets, he says, and the centers in 

Germany and Ireland have now 

hit their stride and are moving up 

quickly in performance. 

In fact, Kildare Village in Ireland 

recorded its highest number 

of visitors with more than 

50,000 shoppers during Easter 

week. Both sales and footfall 

were up 21 percent for the twoweek 

Easter period. Even with 

the atmospheric challenges, Kildare 

Village posted comp-store 

sales increases of 14 percent 

for both February and March. 

New tenants including DKNY, 

Lacoste, 7 for all Mankind, 

Superdry and Juicy Couture are 

said to be key to Kildare Village’s 

positive numbers. And perhaps 

a personal appearance at the center by 

Elizabeth Hurley, who was there to 

promote her pop-up Elizabeth Hurley 

Beachwear Boutiques, was a nice sales 

boost, too. 

In addition to the lure of brands and 

beautiful people, attention to detail 

drives the bottom line at Value Retail. 

“We have kept our heads down and have 

remained focused on driving the fundamentals 

of our business and improving 

the trade performances of all of our 

villages,” Blanchette says. 

■ ■ ■ 

Land Securities’ Galleria in Hatfield, 

England saw a 16.3 percent increase in 

sales for the May Bank Holiday, which 

was the first week in May. 

The 320,000-sf center also posted a 

7.7 percent increase in footfall for the 

week, compared to last year, with Saturday 

footfall up 17.5 percent and Sunday 

up 44.2 percent. 

The rise in footfall was the result of 

a fashion show organized by designer 

brand Ghost. Many of the center’s leading 

brands, including GAP and French 

Connection, were also featured in the 

fashion show. 

■ ■ ■ 

Outlet Centres International says 

Designer Outlets Wolfsburg posted a positive 

2009, with sales turnover increasing 

by 27 percent and footfall by 5 percent 

compared to 2008. Though the increase 

in footfall isn’t double-digit, the 215,500sf 

center had nearly 1.4 million visitors in 

only its second year of operation. 


A fashion show at Land Securities’ Galleria in Hatfield, England may have been key to the 

12-year-old outlet mall’s recent surge in sales. 

Regina Leitner, operations director of 

OCI, which developed and manages the 

center, says credit for the good performance 

goes to the brands, including 

such new tenants as Tommy Hilfiger, 

Marc O´Polo, Bogner, Polo Ralph Lauren 

and Ed Hardy, which just opened its 

first outlet store in Germany. 

“We reached 1.4 million visitors just 

two years after the opening,” Leitner 

says. “Comparable outlet centers manage 

to reach these numbers only after 

the fourth or fifth year. Especially significant 

is the increase in visitors from a 

catchment area of more than 100 km.” 

Thanks to a new regional-marketing 

campaign, almost 45 percent of Wolfsburg’s 

visitors drove more than 50 km 

to get to the center, and 20 percent 

came from more than 100 km. Twentytwo 

percent of the center’s visitors are 

from Wolfsburg, Leitner says. 

Stephan Schaefer, managing director 

of OCI, says the center is 98 percent 

occupied and an expansion is in the 

planning and pre-leasing stages. “We 

want to start construction this year and 

open next summer,” Schaefer says. 

■ ■ ■ 

Extreme weather in Holland might 

have affected the number of visitors to 

Batavia Stad Fashion Outlet in Lelystad, 

but the 277,446-sf center’s total sales 

for Q1 2010 grew by 30 percent, and 

comp-store sales grew by 13 percent. 

“Our current research is confirming 

the results,” says Willem Veldhuizen, 

director of Stable International, the 

developer of Batavia Stad. “The consumers 

are visiting us more frequently, 

staying longer and buying more.” 

In 2009 the center attracted 2.1 million 

visitors. The turnover increased 

by 27 percent compared to 2008. And 

like-for-like sales increased by 9 percent 

with expenditure per visitor growing by 

17 percent. 

■ ■ ■ 

Dalton Park ended 2009 with total 

sales up 8.5 percent compared to 2008, 

and comp-store sales up 8 percent 

for the year. Spend per head was up 4 

percent and visitor levels also increased 

4 percent, going to 2.3 million visitors in 

2009 compared to 2.2 million in 2008. 

Total sales between January and April 

at ING Real Estate’s 160,000-sf center 

in Murton, England, increased 1.7 percent. 

Spend for the period is up 3.4 percent. 

For the Easter weekend, total sales 

were up 6.2 percent compared to 2008 

and comp sales were up 2.1 percent. 

■ ■ ■ 

For 2009, total sales at 263,700-sf 

Mondovicino Outlet Village near Turin, 

Italy, hit €44.5 million. Footfall during 

2009 at Filea Spa’s two-year-old center 

was 1.98 million. The center’s occupancy 

is now more than 95 percent. c 

To have your centers’ sales and 

footfall results included in IOJ’s 

FOC Performance Report, send 

your results to Editor in Chief Linda 

Humphers at lhumphers@icsc.org.

© Value Retail PLC 2010 

THE 

Chic Outlet Shopping® 

villagEs 

Discover Europe’s leading luxury outlet shopping experience, 

created and operated by Value Retail www.ChicOutletShopping.com 

Bicester Village, London • La Vallée Village, Paris • Fidenza Village, Milan 

Las Rozas Village, Madrid • La Roca Village, Barcelona • Ingolstadt Village, Munich 

Maasmechelen Village, Brussels / Düsseldorf • Wertheim Village, Frankfurt • Kildare Village, Dublin 

Alexander McQueen, Anya Hindmarch, Armani, Bally, Burberry, Calvin Klein, 

Carolina Herrera, Celine, DKNY, Diane von Furstenberg, Diesel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Dunhill, 

Ermenegildo Zegna, Façonnable, Givenchy, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, La Perla, Loewe, Loro Piana, 

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CENTER OPENING 

sofia Outlet Center opens 

When sofia Outlet Center 

opened March 5, so many 

people turned out that traffic 

sOFIA OUTLET CEnTER TEnAnT LIsT 

Adidas 

Arzberg 

Benetton 

Bimbo Toys 

Camel Active 

Cassidi 

Centa Star 

Champion 

Converse 

Crazy Kids 

Diesel 

Ecco 

Energie 

Er Piu 

Extravagance 

Fan Point 

Ferrante 

Geox 

Guess 

Hot Spot 

Incanto 

Jeff de Bruges 

Kamerans 

Kappa 

Lee & Wrangler 

Levi’s 

Lloyd 

Mandarin 

Mango 

Manquel/Canali 

Max Mara 

Miss Sixty 


came to a standstill in Bulgaria’s capital 

city. 

The crowd of 200,000 and the pent- 

some 200,000 visitors attended the opening of the 167,000-sf Sofia Outlet Center 

in March. 

Motivi 

Nike 

Nucleo 

Opticlasa & Timeland 

Oxette 

Pepe Jeans 

Pierre Cardin 

Playlife 

Pompea 

Puma 

Purple 

Reno 

Replay 

Rip Curl 

Rollmann 

S. Oliver 

Scandal 

Schuhkids 

Segafredo 

Sisley 

Stratic 

Strenesse 

Tommy Hilfiger 

Trend Box 

Triumph 

Van Laack 

Vayk 

WMF 

Za-Za 

Z-Outlet 

up demand were no surprise to Brendon 

O’Reilly, director of GVA Outlets, 

which handles the leasing and all operations 

of the 167,000-sf center. 

“Bulgaria has had seven years of 

sustained economic growth and low 

inflation,” he says. “This has enabled 

consumer spending to rise very quickly. 

More than 70 percent of the 7.7 million 

Bulgarians live in urban areas and there is 

a well-established market for high fashion 

brands in a shopping-center atmosphere.” 

The Sofia Outlet Center is located 

between the city center and the ring 

road on the busiest highway in Sofia. 

More than 2.2 million people live within 

a 90-minute drive and 2.7 million live 

within two hours of the center. 

Sofia Outlet Center was built in one 

phase and is a four-level enclosed mall. 

The two upper levels include 90 retail 

units, plus a food court and coffee shops. 

The lower-level parking lot has 520 spaces. 

Brands in the center range from apparel 

and footwear to accessories and 

home goods. Tenants include Mango, 

Nike, Ecco, Pierre Cardin, Adidas, 

Benetton, Triumph, Kappa, Guess, Diesel, 

Tommy Hilfiger, Vayk, Miss Sixty, 

Geox, Replay and Converse. 

O’Reilly says that buying cheap goods 

for a cheap price is easy in Bulgaria, “but 

it is much more difficult to buy goodquality 

goods at an affordable price…It 

is the offer of these kinds of discounts 

on high-quality brands that make the 

outlet sector so appealing for shoppers.” 

Sofia Outlet Center EOOD, the 

project’s developer, is a joint venture of 

K & K Engineering, ECE International, 

Drees & Sommer and GVA Outlets. 

GVA has established centers in 

Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic, 

Romania, Switzerland and Hungary, as 

well as in Bulgaria, and is planning a 

second site in Bucharest and new outlet 

projects in Slovenia, Serbia and Russia. 

GVA is also working on new outlet 

centers in Spain and Germany. 

“We have over 20 potential projects 

in the pipeline that will come to fruition 

over the next five years and more 

requests coming in on a weekly basis,” 

O’Reilly says. “Outlets are booming.” c

naxos Taormina 

Fashion Garden 

CMC RAVEnnA GROUP is in the 

process of selecting a partner for the 

development of Naxos Taormina Fashion 

Garden in Sicily. 

Taormina is Sicily’s most famous 

tourist area and has its greatest concentration 

of luxurious accommodations. 

The 200,000-m 2 development will be 

in Calatabiano, easily accessible by car 

from Catania and Messina, on the A18 

at the Fiumefreddo or Giardini Naxos 

exits. 

The outlet center portion will feature 

approximately 150 shops in 28,000 m 2 , 

with room for a 20,000-m 2 expansion. 

Parking facilities will accommodate 

more than 2,000 cars. 

Naxos Taormina Fashion Garden will 

draw shoppers from more than 2.2 million 

residents within 90 minutes of the 

new center, plus the 3 million tourists 

who visit Taormina every year. 

Real estate consultant Larry Smith is 

advising CMC on the project. 

Belgrade Outlet 

shopping Center 

BLACKOAK dEVELOPMEnTs has 

begun groundwork for the Belgrade 

Outlet Shopping Center in Serbia. 

Located just 25 minutes from the capital 

city of Belgrade and the provincial 

capital, Novi Sad, the 30,000-m² center 

will include 125 retail units. It also will 

netherlands 

have feature a coffee bar and restaurants, 

a children’s playground and more than 

2,000 parking spaces. 

This center is being developed within 

a mixed-use development that will include 

a full-price retail park, an office 

complex and a business hotel. 

Belgrade Outlet Shopping Center, operated 

by the UK-based GVA Outlets, is 

set to open by the end of 2010. Leasing 

is by Colliers International. 

Prague Fashion 

Arena Outlet Center 

COnsTRUCTIOn OF the 7,200-m 2 

phase 2 of the oval-shaped Fashion Arena 

Outlet Center in Prague has begun. 

Like phase 1, the €6.3 million expansion 

will be developed by TK Development 

and LMS Outlets, along with 

general contractor, GEMO Olomouc. 

Fashion Arena Outlet Center – 

Prague’s first outlet center – has attracted 

more than 3.5 million shoppers 

annually since its opening in 2007. A 

free shuttle bus service to the center 

departs every 30 minutes from the Depo 

Hostivař A Line Metro Station. About 

3.8 million people live within a two-hour 

drive of the center. 

Prague Fashion Arena, which opened 

about 50 percent occupied, is now 100 

percent occupied with 71 shops. New 

brands that have opened just this year 

include Envy, Foo Doo, Gear 1693, 

IC Factory Outlet, Marlboro Classics, 

O´Neill, Olpran, Paris Women, Punta- 

stable International has been contracted by ING to reposition and expand Rosada 

Fashion Outlet in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. In addition to upgrading the tenancy 

and refurbishing the existing 188,320-sf center, Stable has begun leasing phase 2 of the 

four-year-old center. 

PLANNED CENTERS 

nela Fashion, Rifle, Salomon Wilson, 

Sixty Outlet and Vossen. 

Initially 26 retail shops were planned 

for the second phase, but demand has 

driven the leasing to include 37 new 

tenants, according to Thomas H. Villadsen, 

CEO, TK Development. 

Tommy Hilfiger, Sergio Tacchini and 

Tom Tailor are among the brands that 

will tenant phase 2 when it opens in the 

autumn of this year. 

n n n n 

l ING Real Estate Development 

has submitted a planning application 

to regenerate Dalton Park. Expansion 

plans call for a cinema, supermarket, 

hotel, restaurants and a petrol filling 

station. ING hopes to begin the €27 

million expansion of the seven-yearold 

center by the end of 2011. The 

160,000-sf Dalton Park is just off the 

A19 in Murton, England. 

l Mondovicino Outlet Village 

which opened with 59 stores, is 

expected to reach 90 stores by this summer. 

Its second and third phases will 

result in a buildout totaling 130 units. 

The construction schedule and planned 

openings will depend on market 

demand, says Filea Spa, the center’s 

developer. The outlet village is on the 

A6 motorway near Turin, Italy. 

l Designer Outlets Wolfsburg in 

Germany is pre-leasing its 10,500-m 2 

phase 2, with more than than 42 percent 

pre-let and an opening set for for 

summer 2011. Outlet Centres International, 

Wolfsburg’s developer, also 

is pursuing two additional projects in 

Germany and one elsewhere in Europe. 

l Fashion House Development, 

which already owns an outlet-center 

site in Moscow, has nailed down 

its second Russian location, in St. 

Petersburg. The St. Petersburg site is 

southwest of the city limits on a major 

highway intersection. The 37,000-m 2 

center is set to open in 2012. More 

than 4.2 million people live within 

a 90-minute drive of the site. The 

39,000-m 2 Fashion House Moscow 

is due to open in November 2011. 

That site is northwest of Moscow near 

the Sheremetyevo International airport 

on the main highway connecting Moscow 

and St. Petersburg. More than 8.3 

million people live within a 90-minute 

drive of the Moscow site. FHD is carrying 

out feasibility studies on 11 other 

sites in Russia. c 


NEW OWNERSHIP 

resolution acquires 

troyes designer Outlet 

Resolution Property has 

acquired Troyes Designer Outlet 

from Henderson Global Investor’s 

European Outlet Mall Fund for 

€85.5 million. The purchase, as part of 

the Resolution Real Estate Fund III, is 

Resolution Property’s first in France. 

Financing was provided by the German 

bank Helaba. 

The center was developed in 1995 by 

McArthurGlen as the developer’s first 

designer outlet village in Continental 

Europe. McArthurGlen then sold it to 

Henderson in 2004 but continued to 

manage, market and lease the 317,000-sf 

property, and will continue to fulfill that 

role for Resolution. 

The center has been expanded three 

times and has potential to expand again, 

which Resolution is considering. 

Located in the heart of France’s 

textile region, Troyes Designer Outlet 

is approximately 90 minutes from Paris. 

Troyes calls itself the “European Capital 

of Outlet Centers,” attracting more than 

3 million visitors annually. 

“This is a significant purchase for 

us, being our first in France, which 

we’ve been interested in for some time 

and where we continue to seek opportunities,” 

says Peter Todd, director 

at Resolution Prop- 

erty. “As part of our 

Resolution III fund 

we have a spending 

capacity of approximately 

€1.5 billion to 

invest across Europe, 

including the UK.” 

David Williams, fund 

manager for Henderson’s 

European Outlet 

Mall Fund says the sale 

proves the investment 

potential of the outlet sector. “Outlets of 

this quality are the hallmark of the European 

Outlet Mall Fund and generate strong 

turnover growth even during periods of 

negative economic growth,” Williams says. 

“Henderson and McArthurGlen have 

troyes calls 

itself the “European 

Capital of 

Outlet Centers,” 

attracting more 

than 3 million 

visitors annually. 


McArthurGlen, the original developer of Troyes Designer Outlet, will continue to 

manage the center for new owner Resolution as it had for previous owner Henderson. 

made Troyes one of the best outlets in 

France. Our intention now is to recycle the 

capital raised from the sale of Troyes back 

into our fund in order to help finance other 

exciting value-creating 

opportunities.” 

Echoing Williams’ 

remarks, Jeremy Eddy, 

head of EMEA Retail 

Capital Markets at 

Jones Lang LaSalle, 

says the acquisition 

confirms the strong 

investor appetite for 

French retail property. 

“Investment opportunities 

remain rare,” 

Eddy says, “particularly assets with characteristics 

like Troyes Designer Outlet, 

which has an attractive size, long-term 

income security and the potential for 

rent and performance improvement.” 

Julia Calabrese, CEO, McArthurGlen, 

says the acquisition comes at a time 

when brands are “increasingly looking 

to outlets to boost their bottom line and 

to sell their excess stock in a branded, 

controlled environment.” 

Brands in the center include BCBG Max 

Azria, Burberry, CK Jeans, CK Underwear, 

Eden Park, Escada, Façonnable, 

Feraud, Georges Rech, Geox, Gerard 

Darel, Guess, Kenzo, Kipling, Lacoste, 

Lancel, Lindt, Mango, Marlboro Classics, 

Mexx, Nike, Pepe Jeans, Petit Bateau, Polo 

Ralph Lauren, Replay, Sandro, Swarovski, 

Swatch, Tara Jarmon, Timberland, Ventilo, 

Wolford and Zadig & Voltaire. 

McArthurGlen and Henderson are coinvestors 

in the European Outlet Mall 

Fund, in which McArthurGlen develops 

and manages all assets in the Fund’s €1.4 

billion portfolio. Jones Lang LaSalle 

represented Resolution Property, and 

Cushman & Wakefield Financial Services 

represented Henderson. c

ASIA 

Fingen to bring Italian jeans 

and genes to Wuqing, China 

RdM, a division of the Italian 

company The Fingen Group, is 

planning to open a number of 

Florentia Village designer outlet centers 

in China over the next five years. 


Fingen, a major investor in the development 

of McArthurGlen centers 

in Italy, is a family-owned, €250 million 

conglomerate that has interests in apparel, 

retail, real estate development, 

The Fingen Group plans to open the 60,000-m2 Jingjin Designer Outlets in the fastgrowing 

area of Wuqing, China in spring 2011 

Chinese outlet centers are anything but cookie cutter in design and location; top 

left shows the suburban village-style Shanghai Quingpu Outlets; top right is a different 

village-style center, Beijing Scitech Outlets; bottom left is an urban redevelopment, 

Chongqing West Outlets; bottom right is a mall, Shanghai Foxtown Factory Stores. 

hotels and vineyards. 

The first such outlet center, Jingjin Designer 

Outlets will be 60,000 m2 and will 

inclue 2,800 parking spaces. The center 

is set to open in spring 2011 in Wuqing, 

between Beijing and Tianjin, one of the 

largest and fastest-growing Chinese towns. 

The catchment area has more than 

25 million residents within a 90-minute 

drive; 18 million people live within a 

60-minute drive and 10 million live with 

a 30-minute drive. 

The site is adjacent to the high-speed 

Beijing-Tianjin railway station and is 

accessible from three regional highways 

and several national roads. 

The site of the €50 million project is 

slated by the Chinese government as a 

high-growth area scheduled to become 

a major residential and commercial 

center over the next five years. 

Fingen was a partner with McArthur- 

Glen on the outlet centers in Serravalle, 

Castel Romano, Barberino, Veneto and 

Naples. Because of this experience, 

RDM’s Chinese projects will feature not 

only Italian brands but also European, 

American and Chinese fashion and luxury 

labels. RDM says that 90 percent of the 

world’s top 30 brands will be in the center. 

The architectural design will also be pure 

Italian, with a meandering river flowing 

alongside the reconstructed 16th Century 

buildings, palazzos and piazzas. 

“Florentia Village will have true Italian 

genes,” says Ivano Poma, managing 

director of RDM Asia Ltd. “Our aim 

is to substantially raise the bar in the 

China outlet market, in the level of 

construction, the management style and 

the quality.” c 

CORRECTIOn 

RDM is the main developer of the 

planned Tianjin Florentia Town Outlets. 

A chart in the Spring IOJ mistakenly listed 

Waitex, a minority partner, as the developer. 

RDM is owned by Fingen, the Italian 

real estate, retail and finance company 

that is also known for its partnership 

with McArthurGlen in developing outlet 

centers in Italy.

Changsha Globe Outlets is set to open in spring 2011 in Hunan Province, which has a population of more than 14 million. 

Construction begins on 

Changsha Globe Outlets 

The foundation-laying ceremony 

for Changsha Globe Outlets, 

being developed by Richly Field 

China, was held in March with a flurry 

of media coverage. 

Set to open in spring 2011 in Changsha, 

the capital city of Hunan Province 

in central China, the outlet center is 

only 30 minutes from downtown and 40 

minutes from the airport. Globe Outlets’ 

75,000-m2 first phase will feature more 

than 250 brands and will draw from the 

16 million residents living within a onehour 

drive. Additionally, Hunan draws 

145 million tourists every year. 

Changsha has been an important and 

historic city in China since 206 BC, and 

today is one of the country’s major ports. 

One of China’s top 20 “economically 

advanced” cities, Changsha also attracts 

massive direct foreign investments, 

including nearly €1 billion in 2005 alone, 

Mitsui Fudosan has announced plans 

to open its first outlet project outside 

Japan, which will be in China. 

Tentatively called Ningbo Outlet 

Project, Mitsui is developing the center 

in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province 

through a joint venture with Shanshan 

Group Co., Daito Woolen Spinning & 

Weaving Co., Li-rong Investment Co. 

and ITOCHU Corporation. The name 

of the newly established company is 

Shanjing Fudosan Kaifa (Ningbo) Co. 

mainly for high tech, manufacturing and 

food production. The city is booming 

with construction projects and tourism. 

Changsha economy shows strength in 

widely diverse sectors. Popularly labeled 

“China’s Entertainment Capital,” “City 

of Stars,” “Entertainment City” and 

“Top Animation City,” Changsha is also 

home to the biggest Chinese restaurant 

in the world, the 5,000-seat West Lake 

Restaurant that was featured on the BBC 

in 2008, and ranks 4th largest in retail 

consumption among Chinese cities. 

Thus, Globe Outlets is counting on 

Changsha’s brand-conscious residents 

-- known to be fascinated with popular 

culture and fashion, particularly luxury and 

designer goods – to shop at the outlet project. 

More than 80 percent of the brands at 

Globe Outlets will be international. 

Leasing of the project, being handled 

by an international team, has been going 

Construction of the two-story outlet 

mall – the first in Ningbo – began in 

April, with the first phase of 16,964 m 2 

and 100 shops scheduled for completion 

in spring 2011. The 26,674-m 2 

phase 2, which will follow, will have 160 

tenants. 

Zhejiang Province shares borders 

with Shanghai, China’s largest economic 

municipality, and with Jiangsu Province. 

This area has experienced remarkable 

economic growth, even by Chinese 

well, according to Richard Li, Richly 

Field, executive VP. “We know exactly 

who the customers are and everything 

revolves around them,” he says. 

More than 80 percent of the brands 

at Globe Outlets will be international. 

The planned project was well-received 

at CHIC 2010 (China International 

Apparel & Accessories Fair), which was 

held in Beijing in March. Cilia Wang, the 

general manager of Globe Outlets, says, 

“For new brands abroad, it’s exciting to 

feel the up-and-coming Chinese market 

which has much growth potential.” 

Globe Outlets is located at the CZT, or 

central China’s “golden triangle,” formed 

by Changsha and its neighboring cities 

of Zhuzhou and Xiangtan. In addition to 

the outlet center, other components of 

the CTZ include a high-end villa community; 

the Preess Resort & Hotel; and the 

only illuminated ball field in Hunan. c 

Mitsui Fudosan takes outlet concept to China 

standards. Ningbo City, a major city 

in Zhejiang Province, is a trading base 

offering excellent shipping access. It is 

also a center for companies connected 

to the yarn and apparel industries. 

The site for the outlet project is about 

10 km west of Ningbo City center and 

close to an expressway interchange. 

The company plans to aggressively 

expand its retail facilities and residential 

housing businesses in rapidly-growing 

China and other parts of East Asia. c 


ASIA 

Mitsui shiga Ryuo To open in July 

The Mitsui Fudosan Group, 

which operates nine outlet centers 

in Japan, will open its 10th 

this summer. The grand opening of 

Mitsui Outlet Park Shiga Ryuo was 

set for July 8, less than three months 

after the opening of Mitsui Outlet 

Park Sapporo Kita-Hiroshima, which 

opened April 22. 

Mitsui Outlet Park Shiga Ryuo 

is 100 percent leased. Of the 165 

tenants, 142 are factory outlets and 

25 are opening their first stores in 

Japan. The 44,000-m 2 center is the 

first outlet project in the Keiji area of 

Japan. It covers the Kyoto and Shiga 

Prefectures and has 5,000 parking 

places. It is just 500 meters from the 

Ryuo Interchange on the Meishin 

Expressway, one of the Kinki region’s 

major traffic arteries. 

An estimated 10 million people live 

within a 90-minute drive of the center, 

which is expected to be a strong 

attraction for visitors from China and 

other neighboring countries. 

Mitsui Fudosan, which has been 

developing outlet centers in Japan 

since 1995, is also on track to open its 

11 th center there in 2012 in Kisarazu 

City, Chiba Prefecture. 

Premium Outlets to expand in Asia 

simon Property Group will 

open its second Premium 

Outlet center in South Korea 

in April, 2011. The 328,000-sf Paju 

Premium Outlets, north of Seoul, 


will feature 160 shops. 

In Japan, a 62,000-sf expansion 

of Toki Premium Outlets in Toki 

is expected to open in July of this 

year, and a 54,000-sf expansion of 

An expansion at Simon Property Group’s Toki Premium Outlets 

(above) was set to open in July, and an expansion at Tosu Premium 

Outlets (right) is on track to open in summer 2011. 

Mitsui Fudosan Group has been opening Outlet Parks in Japan since 1995 with steady 

precision: Sapporo Kita-Hiroshima (top) opened in April and Shiga Ryuo (bottom) was set to 

open in July. 

Tosu Premium Outlets in Fukuoka is 

expected to open in July of 2011. 

Simon is also close to disclosing 

plans for its Premium Outlet division 

in Malaysia.

OUTLET MARkETING 

MCG ad campaign 

helps shoppers 

feel the love 

sHOPPERs’ EMOTIOns rather than 

their pocketbooks are the target of 

the new McArthurGlen advertising 

campaign. Anticipation, temptation, 

desire, adoration and joy – all those 

feel-good emotions that bubble up 

when a shopper gets a good deal on 

a desired brand – are tweaked by the 

campaign, launched earlier this year 

in conjunction with the opening of 

McArthurGlen’s 19th designer outlet 

village in Europe, La Reggia Designer 

Outlet near Naples. 

“We are looking to engage 

consumers with new, fresh, aspirational 

messaging communicated in a 

simple, stylish and memorable way,” 

says Shaeren McKenzie, McArthurGlen’s 

marketing director. The 

campaign is McArthurGlen’s first 

national UK advertising campaign 

since 2007. 

The campaign operates on two levels, 

with the above-line reinforcing McArthurGlen’s 

brand identity. The belowline 

messaging relies on black-and-white 

photography that captures the positive 

emotions of style-conscious shoppers 

who discover their favorite designer 


McArthurGlen’s new ad campaign 

brings sophistication and emotion to outlet shopping. 

brand reduced by up to 60 percent at one 

of McArthurGlen’s seven outlet centers 

in the UK. 

The campaign was developed by 

London-based agency WARL and shot 

by fashion photographer Nick Haddow. 

Its initial rollout targeted na- 

As seen on this screen capture at www.theluxurychannel.com, Scott Malkin 

of Value Retail is featured in an interview on outlet retailing. 

tional press, regional radio, 

regional press, outdoor and 

digital media, and included 

ads in The Sunday Times Style 

Magazine, Grazia, Stella, Metro, 

Stylist and Shortlist, as well 

as women’s monthlies Elle, 

Glamour and Red. 

The two-pronged mediabuying 

strategy is designed to 

build the McArthurGlen brand 

and to drive footfall and sales 

by targeting the 30 million UK 

shoppers who currently visit the 

developer’s centers each year. 

The campaign is also aimed at 

those unaware they can shop 

brands such as Burberry, Calvin 

Klein, Elle Macpherson, Gap, 

Polo Ralph Lauren and TAG 

Heuer at the centers. 

McArthurGlen’s UK centers 

are geographically located from 

Swindon in the southwest to 

Ashford in the southeast, York 

and Cheshire Oaks in the north, 

Livingston in Scotland, Bridgend 

in Wales, and East Midlands in the 

heart of England. 

In addition to the UK and Italy, McArthurGlen 

also operates designer outlet 

villages in Austria, Belgium, France, 

Germany and the Netherlands. A new 

McArthurGlen center is scheduled to 

open in Greece in 2011. 

scott Malkin 

interviewed on 

Luxury Channel 

“THE LUxURy CHAnnEL” recently posted 

an interview with Scott Malkin, chairman 

of Value Retail, at www.theluxurychannel. 

tv/ScottMalkin.aspx. The up-market multimedia 

platform provides news and documentaries 

for the retail market and has 

partnered with the Financial Times, the 

International Herald Tribune and CNBC. The 

site’s feature, “Luxury Leaders,” includes 

46 interviews with personalities from the 

luxury world, including Diego Della Valle, 

Angela Ahrendts, Paul Smith, John Hooks, 

Suzy Menkes and Mario Testino. 

Value Retail is the developer of nine outlet 

villages in the major markets of Europe.

dubai Outlet Mall’s consumer magazine 

is delivered free to UAE households 

and major hotels. 

GLOBAL PEOPLE 

Schaefer named OCI 

managing director 

sTEPHAn sCHAEFER has been named 

managing director 

of Outlet Centres 

I n t e r n a t i o n a l 

in Germany. 

Schaefer, who has 

been with OCI for 

10 years, most 

recently as com- 

schaefer mercial director, 

worked on the leasing of OCI centers 

in Zweibrücken (acquired by Neinver 

in January 2009) and Wolfsburg. In 

addition to overseeing the leasing, he is 

now also responsible for the strategic 

orientation of OCI in Germany. 

He reports directly to Hans Dobke, 

founder and CEO of OCI. 

Schaefer says one of his key goals is 

to expand OCI’s portfolio. “Compared 

to other European countries,” he 

says, “Germany is still trailing in 

the number of designer outlet centers. 

When we started as a pioneer 

in Zweibrücken in 1999, we laid the 

foundation for the development of 

dubai Outlet 

Mall publishes 

consumer mag 

dUBAI OUTLET MALL recently 

began publication of Dubai Outlet Mall. 

The magazine is an integral part of 

the mall’s marketing communications 

strategy of creating awareness of the 

outlet concept in the United Arab 

Emirates. 

Dubai Outlet Mall uses a lifestyle 

and fashion format to focus on price, 

product and savings on merchandise at 

the Mall’s 240 stores. It runs features 

on fashion trends, beauty, home decor, 

and mall promotions and events. The 

goal is to give readers all the information 

they need about value shopping 

and the everyday discounts of be- 

factory outlets in Germany. No other 

operator has as much experience in 

the German outlet market as OCI, 

and we will further utilize this.” 

The opening of a second phase of 

Designer Outlets Wolfsburg, scheduled 

for summer 2011, will be the 

next milestone. Additional locations 

in Germany are also being pursued. 

norwegian Outlet 

appoints holth 

to marketing slot 

nORWEGIAn OUTLET has appointed 

Therese Holth as 

marketing coordinator. 

She was 

previously head 

of marketing for 

Paleet, an upscale 

retail center in 

Oslo, for eight 

years, and prior to Holth 

that position she was a store manager 

for Match, a fashion retailer in Oslo. 

The 118,400-sf Norwegian Outlet, 

in Vestby, 25 minutes from Oslo, was 

expected to open in June. c 

tween 30 percent and 90 percent on 

more than 800 premium and popular 

brands in Dubai Outlet Mall. 

“The magazine has become a very 

efficient vehicle for our retailers and advertisers 

to promote their brands and to 

stimulate sales and awareness in a very 

affordable way,” says Vishal Mahajan, 

director of Dubai Outlet Mall. 

Dubai Outlet Mall is produced inhouse 

by the mall’s marketing team and 

printed in separate English and Arabic 

versions. It is distributed free of charge 

on a bi-monthly basis to area households 

and to all major hotels in Dubai. 

n n n n 

n Designer Outlets Wolfsburg 

recently signed Irina von Bentheim, 

the German dub-voice of Sarah Jessica 

Parker, star of the Sex and the City 

TVshows and movies, for its new radio 

advertising campaign. The second Sex 

and the City movie was due to open in 

Germany in May. In other news, the 

215,000-sf outlet center, developed by 

Outlet Centres International, joined 

the City of Wolfsburg and the Wolfsburg 

retailer’s association to produce 

Wolfsburg Shopping Guide, which launched 

in March. “To my knowledge, this is 

the first time in Germany that a close 

cooperation between the outlet center, 

the city and the retailer’s association 

was established,” says center operations 

director Regina Leitner. 

n Cross-border appeal is the new 

marketing platform for Promos’ Palmanova 

Outlet Village, strategically 

located on the border between Italy and 

Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. In March, 

the 258,300-sf center’s new web site went 

online in five languages (Italian, English, 

Croatian, Slovenian and German), and 

in April more than two dozen journalists 

from Belgrade got a close-up of the mall 

during a special Serbian press day. Every 

Thursday from June to August, shops in 

the center stay open until 11 p.m. and the 

main plaza hosts music, dance and comic 

entertainment. And for sports fans, the 

Village scheduled three events featuring 

football clubs playing in the Italian 1 st and 

2 nd divisions in 2009 and 2010. 

n For the third year in a row, Filea Spa’s 

Mondovicino Outlet Village in Turin, 

Italy, is organizing the summertime festival 

“Mondovivo.” The festival events at 

the 263,700-sf center range from cabaret 

shows to ballroom dancing. c 


MARkETING CASE STUDy 

batavia Stad launches 

member loyalty program 

Shoppers get savings on 

future purchases in 

exchange for personal 

data on shopping habits. 

By dAVE sCHEIBER 

Contributing Writer 

How do you make one of the 

most popular shopping destinations 

in The Netherlands – a 

bustling outlet center that draws more 

than 2 million visitors annually by car, 

train and boat – even more popular? 

Stable International, the developer 

of the 25,000-m 2 Batavia Stad Outlet 

Shopping in Lelystad, has found a way: 

a customer loyalty card program with a 

name that’s hard to forget. 

Just remember B Member. 

The initiative, unveiled Jan. 25, is the 

result of two years of intensive team 

planning and implementation among 100 

merchants – more than 90 percent of 

Batavia Stad tenants. Talks are going on 

with the remaining tenants now that the 

program is showing such positive results 

since its launch. 

Within four months of the program’s 

launch, B Member had attracted 35,000 

loyalty card holders – a pace that will 

easily exceed initial projections of 

100,000 in the first three years. 

“The B is for Batavia Stad, but it 

also means to ‘Be’ a member of a club 

– we’re Dutch and so we have to keep 

the name smart and funny and easy to 

understand,” says marketing manager 

Natalia de Smalen. “People are connecting 

to it. In Dutch, everything sounds 

a little bit silly. So in order to make it 

international and with a lot of appeal, we 

came up with that name.” 

To “B” a member, shoppers at the nineyear-old 

Batavia Stad pick up a temporary 

loyalty card, which can be found at counter 

displays in participating stores or in the 

B Member Lounge. Each temporary card 


Batavia stad’s new loyalty program has 

already exceeded expectations by picking up 

35,000 card holders in the first four months. 

is scanned with the purchase of an item, 

and a 5 percent savings is immediately applied 

to the card for each transaction. 

“It’s money – not points or tokens,” 

de Smalen says. 

A shopper can continue to amass 

savings on the temporary card as long as 

he or she likes – all the while remaining 

anonymous in the Batavia Stad computer 

system. To redeem their accrued savings, 

people either take the card to the B 

Member Lounge and hold it in front of 

a scanner, which automatically requests 

name, address and basic personal data, 

or they register online from their homes. 

“The beautiful thing about the program 

is that you can spend that money right 

away if you have a permanent B Member 

card,” de Smalen explains. “Obviously we 

want to know who our customers are and 

how to target them. As a marketer, getting 

that information is the main reason 

to introduce a program like this.” 

So far, 30 percent to 40 percent of the 

center’s visitors have obtained permanent 

B Member status, allowing Batavia 

Stad to track their shopping habits and 

preferences (even in real-time with a 

special reporting tool) and to contact 

them. De Smalen says most shoppers 

– as many as 80 percent -- prefer to accumulate 

their savings over repeat visits 

rather than collect the cash right away. 

What makes the program unique in 

Europe, she says, is that it has never 

before been done in a multi-merchant 

environment. 

“Since the program started,” she says, 

“we’ve seen a striking influence on average 

transactions and other key performance 

indicators. So it’s very promising.” 

The groundwork for the program began 

with an expansion of the center two 

years ago, but the concept sprang from a 

defining Dutch characteristic, de Smalen 

says. 

“We Dutch people like savings. We like 

stamps. We like stickers. We like to collect 

stuff. So it’s a very Dutch thing, and at the 

same time, it’s a proven program within 

retail. Loyalty has been successful in many, 

many retail chains. So we thought we would 

make something of our own.” 

Something memorable, like B Member. c

‘A GREAT OPPORTUNITY 

TO MEET DEVELOPERS 

AND OTHER RETAILERS / 

BRANDS.’ 

PIERLUIGI FARACE, 

MARKETING AND RETAIL MANAGER 

GROUPE SEB, ITALY 

ICSC European Outlet 

Conference 2009 

ICSC European Partners 

Real Estate Development 

ICSC European 

Outlet Conference 

Meliá Milano Hotel, Milan, Italy 

13-14 October 2010 

Why Brands Love Outlets 

• Top global brands: why outlets are crucial 

• Exclusive research: Europe’s best outlet 

centres keep their edge 

• Investors and fund managers: 

we love outlets, too 

• Emerging markets: outlets’ expanding 

horizons 

TO REGISTER VISIT WWW.ICSC.ORG/2010EOS OR CALL +44 20 7976 3102

OUTLET LEASING 

Osprey London plans 

12 more outlet stores 

PLEAsEd WITH THE performance 

of its first three outlet stores, Osprey 

London is looking at a healthy expansion 

schedule. The brand, which launched its 

outlet format in October 2008, opened 

two new stores this spring and has asked 

GVA Outlet Services to find 12 more 

locations over the next three years. 

“We are pioneering a new kind of outlet 

experience for the UK,” says Osprey 

managing director Graeme Ellisdon. 

“We’re combining a great brand and luxury 

products at good value with an exceptional 

shopping experience and quality customer 

service. The investment in a beautiful shop 

communicates so much to our customers.” 

Osprey London has used its initial 

outlet stores as test labs for its leather 

handbags and accessories. Now the 

brand intends to add gloves, hats, ties 

and gift items to its outlet offer. Osprey 

London operates a strong promotional 

calendar keyed to shopping high points 

such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s 

Day and summer holiday trading. The 

brand also has successful programs in 

place for targeting V.I.P. shoppers and 

for training and incentivizing staff. 

The new openings this spring at Clarks 

Village and Swindon Designer Outlet 

bring the brand’s current outlet portfolio 

to five stores, including the original units 

at York Designer Outlet, Gunwharf 

Quays and Gloucester Quays. 

“Outlet is an important element in 

the total retail matrix,” Ellisdon says. 


Osprey London has quickly grasped the 

positive aspect of operating an outlet chain. 

“We see our outlet channel supporting 

our premium retail offer at our flagship 

stores, wholesale accounts and via our 

web site, and vice-versa. It is immensely 

valuable in helping us drive our total 

business forward.” 

Outlet center leasing 

holds steady in 2010 

HIGH sTREET MIGHT be slumping, 

but the outlet sector in Europe keeps 

on leasing. Here’s a rundown of leases 

signed in the last few weeks. 

l Nearly 13,000 sf of new retail space has 

opened since December at McArthur- 

Glen’s East Midlands Designer Outlet 

in Derbyshire, England: Nike (6,079 

sf); Portmeirion (1,020 sf); Aquascutum 

(1,595 sf); Savoy Taylors Guild (2,056 sf); 

and Melka (1,919 sf). Nike is now in all 

seven McArthurGlen centers across the 

Crowds were so massive at Adidas’s opening in April at Designer Outlets Wolfsburg 

that officials had to temporarily close the store. 

UK. East Midlands Designer Outlet has 

more than 70 brands in 160,900 sf. 

l GVA Outlets has signed more than a 

dozen tenants at centers it operates. G- 

Star Raw and Diesel at Premier Outlet 

Centre Ringsted (Denmark); Diesel at 

Alpenrhein Village Outlet Shopping 

in Switzerland; Tommy Hilfiger, Le 

Creuset and Tom Tailor at Fashion 

Arena Prague in the Czech Republic; 

and at Belgrade Outlet Centre, scheduled 

to open in 2011, newly signed brands 

include Bata, Benetton, Camper, 

Cesare Paciotti, Ecco Shoes, Energie, 

Extreme Intimo, Killah, Miss Sixty, 

Piquadro, Replay, Scotch & Soda, 

Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger. 

l Guess has joined the tenant roster 

at Batavia Stad Fashion Outlet in 

Lelystad, The Netherlands. The 

277,446-sf center was developed by 

Stable International. 

l Puma has opened a 98-m 2 unit on the 

ground floor of the Forum Shopping 

Center in Gliwice, Poland. The Forum 

houses 140 shops, a Carrefour hypermarket 

and a 13-screen Cinema City. 

l Città Sant’Angelo Village, which 

opened in September 2009, has several 

new tenants, including Pollini, Meltin’ 

Pot, Asics and Gutteridge. Promos is 

handling leasing for the project, which 

was developed by EuropInvest and 

owned by Città Sant’ Angelo S.p.A. 

l Marina Militare Kids and Deborah 

Milano opened recently at Mondovicino 

Factory Outlet in Turin, bringing 

the occupancy of the two-year-old 

center to 95 percent. 

l Land Securities has a number of 

new lets for its outlet centers in England. 

Joining Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth 

are Wagamama (3,058 sf), Fire 

and Stone (4,815 sf), Yo! Sushi (2,097 sf) 

and Quba Sails (786 sf), which signed a 

five-year lease. At The Galleria in Hatfield, 

Choice at Home (3365 sf), signed 

a 10-year lease. Twentyretail and Head 

Retail handle leasing for Land Securities. 

l New openings during 2010 at Dalton 

Park include Designer Kidz, Cargo 

and Leaf, Bark and Berry. ING is the 

developer of the seven-year-old center, 

which is in Murton, England. 

l The Streat has opened its largest café 

in Ireland – 2,178 sf – at The Outlet at 

Bridgewater Park in Banbridge, N. 

Ireland. GML Estates is the developer 

of the three-year-old outlet center. c

OUTLET TRADE GROUPS 

Italian trade group sets up initiatives 

By Filippo Maffioli 

President, ACFOC 

THE FACTORy OUTLET village is a 

rather recent phenomenon in Italy, 

getting its start in September 

2000 when McArthurGlen 

opened at Serravalle Scrivia. 

Since then the market 

has expanded rapidly and 

Italy is now in second place 

in Europe for business 

devoted to this format. This 

rapid growth – combined 

with the sector’s increasing 

importance – led in May 2009 to the 

formation of the Advisory Committee 

on Factory Outlet Centers in cooperation 

with the Italian National 

Council for Shopping Centers. 

The membership is made up of 

the main Italian FOC operators, 

whose 20-plus centers occupy nearly 

80 percent of the outlet GLA in 

Italy. Representing Promos, I preside 

over the committee, and our 

members include Laura Andreoletti 

of Neinver; Cesare Nonnis Marzano 

of McArthurGlen; Andrea Caramelli 

of Tavolera; Gigi Gelmetti 

of Consedil SA; Corina 

Grandia Munoz of Stores 

Development; Stefano 

Stroppiana of Premium 

Retail; and Giuseppe Taini 

of Fashion District. 

The committee, which 

has been active for more 

than a year, meets every 

two months. We have already undertaken 

a series of initiatives concerning 

standards, legislation, analysis 

of new projects, media relations and 

research. 

We are particularly focusing on 

authorization processes, openings on 

Sundays and holidays, business hours, 

access to funds, labor and training, 

ORDA makes pitch 

for global platform 

By Brendon O’Reilly 

President, ORDA 

THE OUTLET sECTOR is dominated 

by a very small group of developers, 

consultants and tenants, for 

whom the Outlet Retailers 

and Developers Association 

is keen to provide a platform. 

Our initial focus was 

Europe, but the sector is 

now globally active. During 

the last IOJ conference in 

Milan, we saw visitors from 

China, Singapore, Bahrain 

and North Africa. There seems to be 

a U.S.- EU divide around the globe, 

with the middle ground being somewhere 

around Singapore. 

Currently the EU, Russia, Ukraine 

and even India are dominated by 

Maffioli 

O’Reilly 

the European operators. The U.S. 

guys – chiefly Premium Outlets (formerly 

Chelsea Property Group) – 

have come around the Pacific Rim 

and now dominate Japan and Korea. 

At present there are both 

EU and U.S. operators in 

China, Singapore, Malaysia 

and the Middle East, including 

Franco Manchini, who 

recently moved to China 

from Gloucester Quays. 

Horizon Group Properties 

from the U.S. is entering 

China, and GVA Outlet 

Services is working in Malaysia and 

Singapore. 

Therefore, there is now a common 

ground for the EU and U.S. to get 

together and discuss what’s best for 

our industry and create one platform. 

warranties on products, pricing transparency 

and consumer safeguards. 

We are also establishing an official 

FOC definition, creating a system for 

communicating data to the media 

in a uniform manner, and assisting 

ICSC in organizing the annual 

European Outlet Conference. 

Why are we doing all this? Recently 

there has been great emphasis on the 

stellar performance of outlet villages, 

yet a careful analysis tells us that 

growth is slowing. Thus, our goal is to 

gather and share information that will 

help maintain outlet retailing success. 

I’m pleased to tell you that the 

committee was recognized in April 

with the Magdus Award, given to 

our group for “exemplary actions for 

promoting and sharing ideas on the 

factory outlet concept.” 

For more information or to join 

ACFOC, please contact Anna Ruzzier 

at anna.ruzzier@promosbrescia.it. c 

The U.S. group DOC&R has been in 

contact with me to collaborate, and 

we will now seek a meeting with the 

Italian group to discuss creating a 

global outlet forum. 

The European Outlet Conference 

coming up in Milan in October, with 

Neil Thompson of Fashion House as 

the chairman. We should all support 

this ICSC/IOJ event and establish a 

truly unique outlet conference. 

The ORDA web site (www.orda-outlets.com) 

is up and running. Please 

register on the website to receive 

future ORDA newsletters, and feel free 

to attend any of the meetings, either in 

person or by conference call. 

upcoming OrDa meetings: 

Monday, 5 July, london 

Wednesday, 13 October, Milan 

Wednesday, 17 november, Cannes 

In other news, ORDA and Magdus, 

which presented an outlet meeting 

in Troyes in April, are now in communication 

regarding future collaboration 

and information sharing. c 


WITH THIS IN MIND 

E-outlets could become 

e-threat to outlet centers 

By deepan Khiroya, 

Outlet Portfolio Director 

Land Securities 

There is no denying that 

the continued emergence 

of e-outlets, such as eBay, 

Amazon and ASOS, has inevitably 

opened an avenue for comparisons 

with traditional outlet centers. 

E-outlets are compared to traditional 

outlets purely 

because they both 

offer discounted 

goods, but it would 

¨ 

be naive to suggest 

that this comparison 

is wholly representative 

of each offering. 

The undoubted 

benefits of e-outlets 

are comparable to 

traditional online 

shopping sites: The 

ease of 24-hour 

access and “delivered 

to your door” service – these are two 

areas where outlet centers can’t 

compete. So, e-outlets are more 

likely to compete with other online 

shopping sites in the same way traditional 

outlet stores compete with 

high street. 

But the main difference between 

e-outlets and bricks-and-mortar 

outlet centers is the value of the 

shopping experience. 

Shopping centers provide customers 

with a sensory experience in 

which they can physically see, touch 

and sample their purchases. This 

multidimensional shopping experience 

cannot be replicated by online 

alternatives. And at mixed-use 

developments, such as Gunwharf 

Quays, the sensory aspect of shopping 

is further enhanced by the lei- 

deepan Khiroya 


sure facilities. Visitors can enjoy 

food, film and entertainment as well 

as shopping. On-site events and 

marketing also drive shoppers to 

outlet destinations, increase dwell 

time and directly support retailers 

in ways that e-commerce simply 

cannot. In total, traditional centers 

provide an enriched quality of 

marketing and communication that 

e-outlets cannot. 

At present e-outlets 

have failed to find a 

niche in the market 

place, enabling outlet 

centers to continue to 

be selective regarding 

leasing, which 

ensures the tenant 

line-up reflects consumer 

demand. 

However, e-outlets 

should not be 

underestimated, and 

it is vital that outletcenter 

owners track 

their evolution to make sure there 

is a distinct divide between what is 

offered online and in stores. 

At the moment e-outlets sell outof-season 

and surplus stock, as 

manufacturing specifically for online 

outlet sales hasn’t yet arrived. But 

this will inevitably change, making 

it imperative that center owners get 

closer to the retailer to ensure the 

best stock comes to the stores and 

that retailers feel fully supported via 

center marketing and overall tenant 

mix. 

On another level, comparing 

e-outlets with bricks-and-mortar 

outlets is difficult because each 

country has different retail laws 

and regulations. I believe the threat 

of e-outlets, while still minimal, is 

growing. Therefore, center owners 

must remain mindful of e-outlets 

and how they can affect our existing 

outlet-center industry. c 

Land Securities outlet portfolio 

includes The Galleria in Hatfield, 

Livingston Designer Outlet in 

Scotland, and Gunwharf Quays in 

Portsmouth. 

2010 IOJ Calendar 

Vrn Fall Outlet Deal Making 

September 27-28, Crowne 

Plaza Hotel & Convention 

Center, Secaucus, N.J. 

ICSC european Factory 

Outlets Conference 

October 13-14, Meliá Milano 

Hotel, Milan, Italy 

reCon asia 

Novenber 7-9, Beijing. China 

MaPIC November 17-19, 

Palais des Festivals, Cannes, 

France

European Outlet Mall Fund 

Henderson’s European Outlet Mall Fund is a unique €1.4 bn* portfolio of 11 pan-European 

designer outlet assets in Italy, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. 

Henderson is an experienced property fund manager with assets under management 

of €11.6bn* worldwide. 

Henderson’s partnership with developer and property manager McArthurGlen brings added 

strength, enabling the Fund to fully benefit from collaborative expertise and secure a vast 

number of leading global designer and luxury brands. 

*as at December 2009 

David Williams 

Fund Manager 


Tel: +44 20 7818 6423 

david.williams@henderson.com 

Jayson Egan 

Head of Asset Management 


Tel: +44 20 7818 5052 

jayson.egan@henderson.com 

Issued and approved by Henderson Global Investors and is solely for the use of professionals, defined as Eligible Counterparties or Professionals as per the Guidance for Authorised Firms made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and is not for general public distribution. Any 

other persons who receive this document should not rely on or act upon its contents. 

Please remember that past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations and you may not get back the amount originally invested. Tax assumptions may change if 

the law changes and the value of tax relief will depend upon individual circumstances. 

Due to the specialist nature of property investment, in certain circumstances there may be constraints on the redemption or switching of units/shares in the fund(s). The funds invest in a specialist sector that may be less liquid and produce more volatile performance than an investment in 

other investment sectors. The value of capital and income will fluctuate as property values and rental income rise and fall. The valuation of property is generally a matter of valuer’s opinion rather than fact. The amount raised when a property is sold may be less than the valuation. 

Henderson Global Investors is the name under which Henderson Global Investors Limited (reg. no. 906355), Henderson Fund Management plc (reg. no. 2607112), Henderson Investment Funds Limited (reg. no. 2678531), Henderson Investment Management Limited (reg. no. 1795354), 

Henderson Alternative Investment Advisor Limited (reg. no. 962757) and Henderson Equity Partners Limited (reg. no.2606646) (each incorporated and registered in England and Wales with registered office at 201 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3AE and authorised and regulated by the 

Financial Services Authority) provide investment products and services. Telephone calls may be recorded and monitored.

ICSC European Outlet Conference - Value Retail News

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