TOM 03 2023

T
TOPS
M
OF THE MONTH
TOMO
RETAIL REAL ESTATE
TOPS
OF THE
MONTH
Essential News About The Players In In
The Retail Real Property Estate Market In in Germany
THE HOTTEST DEALS +++
INTERVIEWS +++ STATEMENTS
+++ PARTICULARS +++
ANALYSES +++ PROJECTS
presented by HI-HEUTE.DE
March 2023
Textile sales are very slightly above the level of 2019.
Textile sales rise to 67 billion euros
Textile association BTE has presented initial projections
According to initial projections
by the textile association
BTE, retail sales of clothing
- excluding shoes - as well as
house and home textiles rose
last year by around five percent
or more than three billion
euros to 67.3 billion euros.
„Sales are thus very slightly
above the level of 2019 with an
increase of 0.1 percent,“ reports
BTE Managing Director Axel
Augustin. Responsible for the
small plus compared to 2019 is
primarily the good development
in home and household textiles.
„Sales of apparel, on the other
hand, have not yet reached
the pre-Corona level despite
a strong catch-up last year,“
Augustin states. „We‘re also
seeing big differences by location
or business concept, some
of which is still a result of the
Corona pandemic.“
Apparel up
28 percent
Over-the-counter apparel retail
sales increased by nearly 28
percent last year, but are still
about 6.5 percent below 2019
sales. The figures also include
sales generated by boutiques,
fashion houses and (vertically
organized) textile chains
through their e-commerce activities.
Over-the-counter home
textile retailers and home textile
specialty stores increased by about
15 percent in 2022 compared
to 2021 and are also up by
a mid-single-digit percentage
over 2019 sales.
According to BTE projections,
the entire apparel specialty retail
sector accounted for around
30 billion euros. A further six
billion euros in sales were
achieved by the specialist trade
in home and household textiles,
which was successful during
the pandemic. Together, the retail
companies specializing in
clothing and textiles thus have
a market share of 53.5 percent.
Decline in
online retailing
For companies in the mail-order
and online trade, the BTE
has calculated a decline in sales
of around six percent in 2022.
Symbol image: Unsplash / Burgess Milner
Compared to 2019, however,
this sales channel has gained
around a third. According to
BTE projections, total distance
selling of apparel and home
and household textiles will
thus achieve sales of more than
19 billion euros, which corresponds
to a market share of 28.5
percent.
According to BTE estimates,
textile and apparel sales by department
stores, food discounters
and all other retail sectors
that carry textile ranges fell by
almost a fifth last year compared
with 2021, to around twelve
billion euros. The development
is similar compared with 2019,
with the market share of this
„other stationary trade“ thus
standing at around 18 percent.

Page 2 T O M
NEWS
March 2023
Record attendance at URW‘s
Retail Open House in Hamburg
Leasing continues at full speed
Following a record 2022 leasing
year in Germany and
Austria, with 732 leases
across the 23 properties in
the region, Unibail-Rodamco-
Westfield (URW) now invited
its partners and stakeholders
to its B2B networking event
Retail Open House.
Due to the high level of interest
across the industry and the large
number of guests at last year‘s
edition, the event was spread
over two days. The exclusive
location was the Automuseum
Prototyp in Hamburg‘s Hafen-
City, just a few minutes‘ walk
from the future flagship destination
Westfield Hamburg-
Überseequartier.
Around 900 guests from the
retail, gastronomy, leisure and
real estate sectors accepted the
invitation to the company‘s
central industry event. This
year‘s Retail Open House focused
on the presentation of
Successful event: retail open house by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
URW‘s corporate strategy,
the portfolio in Austria and
Germany as well as an update
on the mixed-use project
Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier
including numerous
viewings. The pre-letting rate
for the retail, gastronomy and
leisure sectors is now at 75
Photo: URW
percent. In addition, the company
presented the service
portfolio of the in-house media
agency Westfield Rise, which
was founded in 2022, and reported
on the progress made
in implementing its ambitious
„Better Places 2030“ sustainability
strategy.
Sierra acquires seven
new German
supermarkets
Sierra has acquired a further seven
supermarkets for its German
Food Retail Income Fund I. This
brings the total number of supermarkets
in the German food retail
fund to twelve properties.
Launched at the end of 2021, the
fund has been placed with leading
blue-chip institutional investors
from the DACH region.
It offers a stable, inflation-linked
long-term income and investment
profile. The focus of the fund is
primarily on discounters and
supermarkets, rounded out by hypermarkets.
Preference is given
to stable stand-alone properties
characterized by long-term leases
with recognized, high-quality
operators. The twelve properties
are located in North Rhine-Westphalia,
Hesse, Bavaria, Saxony
and Rhineland-Palatinate, among
others. The fund has a target volume
of around 200 million euros,
underlining the format as well as
its focus on the food retail sector,
which is considered resilient. The
fund is aligned with Sierra‘s expertise
and strategic direction in
investment management and fits
its growing portfolio in Europe.
GALERIA closes 52 stores and
continues to operate 77 locations
Modernization of remaining stores planned
GALERIA is realigning its
store network and has now
announced that 52 stores will
close. 77 locations will remain.
The company had entered protective
shield proceedings in
the fall against the backdrop of
the severe effects of the Corona
crisis on the one hand and the
Ukraine war with high inflation
and a sharp drop in consumer
spending in Germany. Now the
restructuring plan is in place.
The department store group intends
to present its new concept
at a total of 77 locations in the
future - with a product range
that is more strongly geared to
local and regional needs. This
includes a customer-friendly
dovetailing of mobile, online
and in-store shopping options.
GALERIA plans to comprehensively
modernize all stores
it continues to operate over the
The department store on Düsseldorf‘s Kö is one of the locations
that will be continued. Photo: HI HEUTE / Susanne Müller
next three years. Despite the
extremely challenging overall
economic situation in Germany,
particularly in the non-food
retail sector, this will enable
around 11,000 jobs to be secured
in the long term. 52 stores
cannot be continued. In view of
the economic framework and
local conditions, and even after
intensive negotiations with
landlords and municipalities,
there is no positive prospect of
continuing these stores.
B&L Property
Management GmbH
establishes new
management level
B&L Property Management
GmbH has adjusted its organizational
structure and established
a new management level. In addition
to the managing director
Thomas Junkersfeld, there is now
an additional management level.
This is occupied by the three authorized
signatories Michael Füss,
Head of Commercial Property
Management, André Kohlhoff,
Head of Technology, as well as
Sandra-Yvonne Busch, who is
taking over as Head of Key Account.
B&L PM is thus reacting
to the company‘s growth in thirdparty
business in recent years and
the departure of Thorsten Bremer
at the end of the month.
Thomas Junkersfeld, Managing
Director of B&L Property
Management GmbH, explains,
„With the acquisition of a large
mandate at the beginning of 2019,
we have grown strongly. Whereas
the Property Management division
consisted of six people just
over ten years ago, we are now 55
at four locations.“

Page 3 T O M
INTERVIEW March 2023
„Proper technology with AI can
revolutionize business processes!“
MIPIM interview with Richard Gerritsen, European CEO of software developer Yardi Systems
TOM: After the end of the
pandemic, daily office life has
returned to normal in many
companies. How is it in your
company? Is there still a lot of
working from home?
Richard Gerritsen: Yardi is
an innovative, global company
and we listen to the needs of our
employees. Last year, we began
going back into the office but in
many areas throughout our operations,
we have downsized offices
and moved to flexible working.
We are a people business
and employees are free to go to
the office or work from home –
we tend to work from the office
once every other week, or more
often when necessary if we’re
working on projects. We encourage
our colleagues to work
where they feel the most productive
– whether that’s from
home or in the office.
TOM: From your point of
view, how has the readiness
for digitalisation changed
among retail companies? Has
Covid-19 been a driver?
Richard Gerritsen: For a lot
of companies, the pandemic
pushed them to rethink their
strategies and it hasn’t stopped.
In the 2022 EPRA and Yardi
Proptech Survey, we found that
46% of businesses do not consider
proptech adoption as a high
priority compared to other business
initiatives. However, nearly
70% of participants recognise
that the adoption of technology
is now a business topic. Businesses
are starting to realise that
technology is required to run
their business better.
However, despite people in the
industry recognising the importance
of tech in driving the future
of business, nearly 46% are
classifying this topic as a low
priority – they’re succumbing to
the idea that they are not ready
to digitise, which is an underlying
issue that we need to change.
The real question is, what is my
cost if I don’t invest? Digitalisation
is a strategic business
decision that drives the future
of an organisation. Investing in
technology is fundamental, but
businesses need to be prepared
to undergo this process before
they can get to the other side of
Yardi Europe CEO Richard Gerritsen at his company‘s booth in
Cannes.
innovation.
TOM: Artificial intelligence
and ChatGPT are currently
more popular than ever before.
How do you use AI in your
business?
Richard Gerritsen: We utilise
AI and machine learning within
our solutions, such as the residential
and commercial suite.
These asset management solutions
deep dive into operational
data and go beyond presentation
with predictive insights and
prescriptive recommendations.
These intuitive solutions help
elevate portfolio performance
by lowering costs, balancing
risk and increasing revenue.
Every process in real estate,
whether it’s residential, retail,
commercial or even coworking,
is digitalised in our platform.
We have seen in the industry
that clients and customers are
gathering their data from different
places and aren’t focusing
on having a strong data foundation.
A strong data foundation
can be utilised for AI, predictive
analysis and the future of their
business.
Based on each factor, for example,
if I want to increase rent
or reduce rent, the KPIs and
predictive analysis we receive
from AI can help us make the
right decisions. So, we believe
having a strong data foundation
in place and aggregating
this data will help companies
be more productive and make
better decisions in their future
operations.
TOM: What else is new to report
from your company that
has or could have an impact
on the retail real estate industry?
Richard Gerritsen: We work
closely with our clients to ensure
our solutions can support
their requirements. As the market
changes, the business requirements
change, so our solutions
need to be flexible and
adapt to any changes in business
processes and business operations.
The Yardi Retail Suite
has already helped clients save
over 30 hours of data gathering
and strategic planning, reduced
the leasing planning cycle by
40% and saved 50% of time
from automatic reporting. The
end-to-end solution helps to
easily evaluate current and future
occupancy with visual floor
plans, helps attract prospects,
improves customer experience
and provides better analytical
insights with a click of a button.
Our technology helps clients
scale their business and save
time through automation. The
retail sector generates more data
each month than most vertical
real estate markets. Businesses
need to move away from
spreadsheets as you can’t gain
valuable insights into your data
or trends. It makes it difficult to
find the right information and
involves a lot of manual input.
Automation is key to success as
you can optimise your shopping
centre revenue. Proptech solutions,
such as Yardi’s that are
specifically for retail operators,
help remove manual processes
and allow them to improve the
customer experience and attract
prospects.
TOM: What are your corporate
goals until the end of the
year?
Richard Gerritsen: As we look
to 2023, data and technology
are still important factors in real
estate. There is recognition that
proptech is an important factor
in business, as mentioned previously.
However, companies
need to understand the true ROI
of technology. We shouldn’t be
relying on outdated software
that requires a lot of manual
input when proptech can save
50% of your time through automation
alone. You cannot afford
to not invest in technology,
especially when planning for
growth – there are a lot of overhead
costs, but technology can
help you save money and scale
your business.
This year we will continue to
demonstrate to the industry the
true value of a single connected
solution. Our commercial offering
is strong with solutions
such as Retail Manager and
Deal Manager that are developed
for niche market needs. We
will continue to help real estate
businesses thrive with the use
of a connected solution and one
source of truth. By investing
in the right technology and understanding
the true ROI, real
estate owners and operators can
transform the way their business
operates.

Page 5 T O M
ANALYSES March 2023
Ethical consumption remains mainstream
Otto Group presents results of its trend study
Ethical consumption is changing
significantly in the face of
multiple crises. Germans have
become significantly more
price-sensitive, but the majority
of purchases continue to
be based on the sustainability
of the products.
According to the Otto Group‘s
current trend study, 62 percent
of those surveyed still consider
ethical consumer behavior to
be an integral part of their purchasing
considerations. More
important to people than before
is the long-term goal of combating
climate change. 68 percent
would like to see climate neutrality
as a benchmark of ethical
consumption and call on brands
and companies to become the
drivers of transformation for
climate neutrality. As a response
to climate change and resource
scarcity, the circular economy
is increasingly well understood.
The move toward a circular society
is gaining traction.
For the sixth time, Trendbüro
presents the study on ethical
consumption, initiated and published
by the Otto Group. The
current results show that ethical
consumption continues to
be mainstream despite difficult
general conditions. It is true that
the proportion of respondents
who state ethical consumption
as a fixed component of
their purchasing considerations
has fallen by eight percentage
points. However, the fact that
62 percent still agree with the
statement is a remarkable result
given the financial pressures
on consumers. This statement
is supported by the results of
Bonsai Research‘s own market
research and a meta-analysis by
Trendbüro.
Climate neutrality a
new benchmark
Ideally, saving is combined
with sustainability - 67 percent
of Germans have changed their
consumer behavior to this effect
due to factors such as corona,
inflation, the energy crisis and
climate change. In general, there
is a significant shift: climate
neutrality has become the new
benchmark of ethical consumption
for respondents, even if
organic-regional, social justice
The development towards a circular society is gaining in attractiveness.
and health remain important
factors in consumption. „We
are seeing an increase in people‘s
awareness of the impact
of consumption on the environment
and climate. The results
show that even in times of multi-crises,
the long-term goal of
addressing the climate crisis is
not being suppressed and sustainable
consumption remains
robust. This trend can certainly
be explained by the expansion
of product offerings in recent
years. Sustainably declared products
now come in a variety of
price ranges,“ said the study‘s
director, Professor Peter Wippermann
of Trendbüro, summarizing
the findings. „In addition,
the circular economy is increasingly
being understood as a
solution along the way. People
are willing to go along with the
path from a throwaway society
to a circular society. Although
the figure has fallen by seven
percentage points compared
to 2020, at 75 percent, three
quarters of all respondents still
support this statement,“ Professor
Wippermann continued. He
therefore advises companies to
rethink their business practices
and models in terms of the circular
economy in order to meet
ethical and economic expectations.
This is the only way they
can survive in competition and
secure their future.
The growing willingness of
people to see their own responsibility
in protecting the planet
is an optimistic sign. While
demands on politicians have
fallen drastically - after a drop
of 28 percentage points, only
13 percent now see politicians
as having a responsibility - the
expectations of companies are
concrete.
People see their
responsibility
The study proves that more
decisive action and concrete
measures are demanded - otherwise
trust will be withdrawn
from them. „More is expected
of companies than a purpose
statement. Entrepreneurs and
companies alike should take
this finding from the trend study
very seriously,“ says Alexander
Birken, CEO of the Otto
Group. „Moving from talk to
action is the motto here. That is
why we are working concretely
with our brands such as OTTO,
Bonprix, Manufactum, Hermes
and About You on sustainable
solutions to combat climate
change. Sustainability is firmly
anchored in our DNA, and
we recognized many years ago
that a responsible approach to
people and nature is becoming a
license to operate,“ Birken continued.
„Companies now have
the opportunity to help shape
Photo: Otto Group
the transformation to a circular
economy and secure their role
in the future. It is no longer just
about acting ethically, but also
about economic success and positioning
in international competition.
The Otto Group wants
to advance the circular economy
- with concrete contributions
from its individual brands in the
areas of repair, recycling and reuse,
among others.“
T
TOPS
O M
OF THE MONTH
TOM
TOPS
OPS F THE ONTH
OF THE
RETAIL REAL ESTATE
Essential News About The Players In In
The Retail Real Property Estate Market In in Germany
IMPRINT
MONTH
Publisher:
Business News Group GmbH
Address:
Alexanderstraße 16
45130 Essen
Germany
Tel. 0049-201-874 55 28
Web: www.hi-heute.de
Mail: tom@hi-heute.de
Frequency of publication:
monthly
Circulation: approx. 5000 copies
sent by e-mail
Editorial team: Susanne Müller,
Thorsten Müller
Responsible in terms of press
law: Thorsten Müller
Layout: K4-PR, Essen
THE HOTT
INTERVIE
+++ PART
ANALYSE
presented
March

Page 7 T O M
NEWS March 2023
REWE Group makes its way
through the crisis in a stable manner
Consciously foregoing profit in favor of customers
REWE Group has successfully
completed the 2022 business
year and continues its stable
development. Once again, in
view of the manifold effects of
the Ukraine war, the consistent
course and the broad and
solid international positioning
with trading, travel and tourism,
and convenience have
proven their worth.
Total sales rose to a high level
- also due to inflation - while
earnings (EBITA) fell just short
of the previous year‘s level. The
negative effects on earnings
- deliberately calculated decline
in Food Trading Germany
due to investment in customer
prices, cost increases including
energy, raw materials, personnel,
logistics, and targeted risk
provisioning for individual shareholdings
- were offset by the
positive contributions of other
Group divisions. Above all, the
strong return of the Travel and
Tourism division after the Co-
results.
rona pandemic, but also a good
development in the international
business and at Lekkerland
made this stable result possible.
REWE Group‘s investment offensive
was not only continued
in 2022, but also intensified at a
very high level.
„We did not leave our customers
standing in the inflation rain in
2022 without an umbrella,“ said
Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE
Group, making good on his promise.
„In Germany alone, we
have invested a three-digit mil-
Photo: REWE
lion amount as announced. In
doing so, we have effectively
and demonstrably stabilized our
sales prices. And deliberately
accepted a decline in earnings
in food trading in Germany and
actively foregone profit.“ Calculated
for the full year 2022,
REWE was thus able to keep
assortment inflation - i.e., price
increases on REWE‘s shelves -
at 7.3 percent, noticeably below
the consumer price index - CPI
- food 2022 of 13.4 percent for
customers, Souqu said.
IKEA comes to Munich
centrally with planning studios
Two locations in shopping centers are planned
IKEA is coming to Munich
later this year with planning
studios centrally. So far, the
Swedish home furnishings
company has been serving
people in the region with two
stores in Eching and Brunnthal.
„With planning studios in central
locations in Munich, we are
expanding our range and making
IKEA accessible to people
without a car,“ explains Walter
Kadnar, Managing Director and
CSO of IKEA Germany. The history
of IKEA Germany began in
Eching almost 50 years ago with
Germany‘s first furniture store.
„The fact that we are also developing
the future of the company
in this region has a very special
meaning for us,“ says Kadnar,
who has been responsible for
IKEA Germany since September
2022. „I am also personally
pleased about this, because Munich-Eching
was my training
house,“ he reveals further.
REWE Group has taken a look at its cash position - with positive
In addition to Berlin - here the planning studio in Reinickendorf - new
IKEA formats are now also being created in Munich. Photo: IKEA
„We want to give even more
people in the Munich region a
better, more sustainable home -
at affordable prices and always
with consideration for our environment
and the planet. In
addition to our digital offerings
and traditional stores, our city
formats are an important building
block in making IKEA
fluently accessible through all
channels,“ says Kadnar. He
explains, „Our customers and
the way they live are changing.
More and more people are experiencing
IKEA online. But
when it comes to planning more
complex purchases or inspiration,
we still see that they value
personal advice and want to try
out home furnishing solutions
up close. Our goal is to be where
people are - no matter when
or how they want to encounter
IKEA, whether on-site or digitally.“
Creditors approve
Galeria rescue plan
Germany‘s last major department
store chain Galeria Karstadt
Kaufhof will get another
chance. The department store
group‘s creditors‘ meeting
yesterday (Monday) approved
the insolvency plan drawn up
in recent months by restructuring
expert Arndt Geiwitz and
the company‘s management to
save the traditional company,
the company reported. „The
restructuring plan and thus
the concept of the department
store of the future give Galeria
Karstadt Kaufhof the best
chances of returning to the
road to success,“ Geiwitz said.
He added that it was now crucial
that the concept was implemented
swiftly and consistently
by the management and
the owners. The trustee Frank
Kebekus emphasized that a rejection
of the insolvency plan
would have had catastrophic
consequences for the group.
According to him, the closure
of all stores and the dismissal
of all employees would have
been unavoidable.
Deutsche EuroShop:
Increased operating
result in 2022
Deutsche EuroShop has announced
its preliminary and
as yet unaudited results for the
2022 financial year. „Thanks to
easing influences and after-effects
of the Corona pandemic,
which still had a significant impact
on the previous year, we
were able to report an operating
upturn in 2022,“ explained Executive
Board member Hans-Peter
Kneip. „Nevertheless, there
were negative factors such as
the war in Ukraine, disrupted
supply chains, the energy crisis
and the significant rise in inflation,
which will continue to
impact our business in 2023.“
Shoppingcenter-AG, which
was acquired in the reporting
year by Hercules BidCo GmbH
(indirectly controlled by a bidding
consortium consisting of
private investment funds managed
and advised by Oaktree
Capital Management, L.P. and
CURA Vermögensverwaltung,
the family office of the Otto
family and parent company of
the ECE Group), increased its
operating profit, while consolidated
profit declined due to the
weaker valuation result - as a
result of the rise in interest rates.

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Page 9 T O M
ANALYSES March 2023
The restaurant industry is still short of employees.
Symbol image: Pixabay / StockSnap
Gastronomy still lacks a lot of staff
Federal Statistical Office has published current figures
In the wake of the Covid 19
pandemic, the restaurant industry
lost staff significantly.
In 2022, the number of employees
increased again, but
was still significantly below
the level of the pre-Corona
year 2019. As reported by the
Federal Statistical Office (Destatis),
there were 12.5 percent
more employees in the catering
industry last year than
in 2021, which was marked
by Corona restrictions, but at
the same time there were still
a good tenth (11.8 percent) fewer
employees than in 2019.
Bars and pubs were particularly
affected by the crisis: in 2022,
they increased their staff by
more than a third (36.2 percent)
compared to the previous year.
However, this was still a good
fifth (21.0 percent) fewer employees
than in the pre-Corona
year 2019. Establishments that
offered food were better able to
retain their staff in the wake of
the crisis. The number of employees
in restaurants, snack bars
and cafés in 2022 was 14.0 percent
higher than in 2021, while
they still recorded a decline in
staff of just under a tenth (9.5
percent) compared to 2019. The
picture was similar for caterers
and food service providers:
they had around 5.6 percent
more employees in 2022 than
in the previous year, and were
still down by just over a tenth
(11.8 percent) compared with
2019. Short-time workers, who
also existed in foodservice during
the corona-related retrenchments,
continued to count as
employees. The number of employees
was at its lowest point
in the winter months of 2020 as
well as in the following spring,
when many restrictions were in
place nationwide due to Corona
and pubs had to remain closed.
Low-wage
workers lost
The restaurant industry is a major
employer in Germany. In
2021, 1.01 million people were
employed in the sector on compulsory
social security or marginal
wages - but around one-seventh
(14.7 percent) fewer than
in the pre-Corona year of 2019.
As an analysis of the statistical
business register shows, the catering
industry lost mainly marginally
paid employees in the
two crisis years: their number
fell by 23.1 percent to 346,500
in 2021 compared with 2019.
Little appetite
for cooking jobs
The number of employees on
compulsory social security fell
by 9.4 percent to 662,400 in the
same period. In the restaurant
industry, a large proportion of
dependent employees continue
to be marginally paid: in 2021,
this figure was more than onethird
(34.1 percent). With a
share of 51.7 percent, marginally
paid employees were particularly
strongly represented in bar
and restaurant businesses, while
in the catering sector only just
under a quarter of dependent
employees (24.8 percent) were
marginally paid.
During the Corona pandemic,
not only did many employees in
the catering industry lose their
jobs, but there were also fewer
new recruits. The number of
newly concluded training contracts
for dual vocational training
in a typical gastronomy
occupation rose again in 2021
compared to the previous year,
but in some cases was lower
than in the pre-Corona year
2019. For example, 6200 people
concluded a contract for training
as a cook - a similar number to
the previous year (+0.2 percent),
but almost a fifth (19.7 percent)
less than in 2019. The picture
is similar for the profession of
restaurant specialist, with 2100
new training contracts: an increase
of 4.8 percent compared
to the previous year, but almost
a fifth (18.2 percent) fewer new
contracts than in 2019.
Only in the training programs
for specialist for system catering
(1500 new training contracts),
the pre-Corona level
was almost reached with an increase
of 18.0 percent compared
to 2020 (-0.8 percent compared
to 2019). By comparison, the
number of new contracts overall
was 0.6 percent higher than
in the first Corona year of 2020,
but fell 8.7 percent short of the
pre-crisis result in 2019.

Page 11 T O M
DEALS March 2023
A transaction with PEP
Purchase of Munich shopping center by ECE and Generali
Generali Real Estate and ECE
Real Estate Partners have acquired
the Pep shopping center
in Munich-Neuperlach as
part of a 50/50 joint venture.
Generali Real Estate has acquired
half of the shares for the
specialized pan-European Generali
Shopping Center Fund
(GSCF), which is managed by
Generali Real Estate S.p.A. Società
di gestione del risparmio
and reserved for institutional investors.
ECE Real Estate Partners purchased
the other 50 percent stake
for the ECE Progressive Income
Growth Fund. The seller
of the property is Nuveen Real
Estate as investment advisor
to the TIAA-CNP partnership,
which had held the property as
part of a joint venture. The seller
side was advised by CBRE and
ambas Real Estate in the transaction.
„The successful sale of PEP
in the current market environment
documents the impressive
comeback of retail real estate
in institutional investment. Our
deal team is very proud to have
been part of this on behalf of
Nuveen Real Estate! The interaction
with CBRE in the context
of a complex real estate transaction
was excellent“, says Steffen
Hofmann, Managing Partner of
ambas Real Estate.
Dominant market
position
With around twelve million visitors
and a turnover of more
than 250 million euros per year,
the Pep shopping center has a
dominant market position and
is one of the top five shopping
destinations in Germany. Located
in the dynamic Neuperlach
district of Munich, Pep, with an
area of around 70,000 square
meters, is characterized by
high visitor frequencies, strong
sales figures and full occupancy,
achieved through excellent
urban integration at a public
transport hub and a densely
populated surrounding area. In
addition, the attractive tenant
mix with anchor tenants such as
Primark, Edeka, Kaufland, Müller
Drogerie, H&M and Saturn
makes the shopping center an
attraction for customers from a
ECE and Generali have acquired the Pep in Munich.
wide catchment area. The shopping
center was extensively modernized
and expanded between
2016 and 2018 and has been
managed by ECE Marketplaces
for over 30 years.
JLL advised the buyers on the
commercial due diligence.
Destination,
Diversified
Aldo Mazzocco, CEO of Generali
Real Estate S.p.A., commented,
„The acquisition of the
Pep is the second important investment
for our pan-European
Shopping Centre Fund and fully
follows the investment strategy
we established five years ago for
the retail asset class: to invest
very selectively and carefully in
shopping centers that optimally
represent the so-called ‚Dominant,
Destination, Diversified‘
segment. Pep is a strong addition
in Central Europe to our
international portfolio, alongside
Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza
and CityLife Shopping District
in Milan.“ Volker Kraft, Managing
Partner at ECE Real Estate
Partners, says: „We are pleased
to make the investment in the
Pep shopping center together
with our partner Generali Real
Estate. The property stands out
as a winner in the increasingly
polarizing shopping center landscape.
As such, it is an excellent
fit with our ECE Progressive
Income Growth Fund, which
comprises a two-billion-euro
portfolio of outstanding shopping
centers in Europe.“
First-class
property created
Photo: ECE
Myles White, Head of Retail
Europe at Nuveen Real Estate,
comments, „We are very
proud of what we have achieved
with the Pep shopping center.
We believe that through active
management and prudent
investment we have created
a first class asset in a strategic
location in Munich and believe
this transaction demonstrates
the continued investor demand
for high quality retail assets
that continue to meet evolving
consumer demands and trends.
We are pleased to close this
transaction with Generali, Axis
and ECE and are confident that
they will continue to drive the
success of the property“ The
shopping center has been awarded
BREEAM „Excellent“ certification
for operations and an
overall BREEAM „Very Good“
rating.
Investment in further improving
the sustainability of the shopping
center is a key element in
the asset strategy of the new owners.
Generali Real Estate was
advised by Axis Retail Partners,
part of Generali Investments‘
group of asset management
companies.

Page 13 T O M
GUEST CONTRIBUTION March 2023
How we increase the attractiveness
of city centers with mixed-use concepts
Exclusive guest article by Rowan Verwoerd, Portfolio Director for D-A-CH at Redevco
Europe‘s inner cities are changing.
Whether the impact of
the financial crisis in 2007, the
restrictions on our daily lives
caused by the outbreak of the
COVID 19 pandemic in Europe
around three years ago, or -
since February 2022 - the war
in Ukraine, these events have
led to profound upheavals in
European metropolises and
beyond.
Cities are grappling with demographic
challenges and a fundamental
shift in the attitudes
of their residents, with implications
for daily routines such as
work, consumption, education,
study, and leisure. Both local
residents and visitors today expect
urban areas to offer smart
infrastructure, sustainable environments,
and diverse opportunities
for recreation and leisure.
In light of these changes, we see
great potential to help city centers
flourish by comprehensively
enhancing the attractiveness
of existing retail properties with
new concepts.
From a longer-term perspective,
we are seeing city centers
reinventing themselves by reintroducing
and offering their residents
and visitors their actual
core function: central marketplaces
where people shop, meet,
work, live and celebrate. This
increasingly challenges the prevailing
functional and spatial
segregation. After all, today‘s
urban dwellers don‘t want monocultures.
For example, the pandemic has
brought about a rethink and a
new attitude toward e-commerce,
online payments and working
from home. This has led
to a steady increase in demand
for mixed-use site development.
These trends were highlighted
by McKinsey Global Institute,
among others, in the report The
future of work after COVID-19,
published in February 2021.
In light of this trend, prime
downtown real estate is opening
up to mixed-use concepts rather
than serving a single purpose.
Instead of retail, office or exclusive
gastronomy and accommodation
for business travelers
Rowan Verwoerd is portfolio director for Germany, Austria and
Switzerland at Redevco.
Photo: Redevco
and tourists, there is increasing
demand for locations that combine
several purposes. Often,
redevelopment is part of initiatives
that seek to enhance the
quality of life of urban spaces
by addressing multiple needs
and in coordination with local
authorities.
The renaissance
of mixed-use
concepts
Locals and tourists expect a range
of options and services that
ideally can be reached within
15 minutes on foot, by bicycle,
or by public transportation without
changing trains. The concept
of the so-called 15-minute
City goes back to Carlos Moreno,
a French urban planner and
thought leader who has been
working on its implementation
in Paris since 2016 with the city
administration led by Mayor
Anne Hidalgo.
About 20 years ago, we saw
food retailers leaving the city
centers. Today, the opposite
is true. The same chains are
back - but with new concepts:
the shopping experience is taking
center stage. Consumers
can do their shopping. But they
can also enjoy specialties and
prepared foods from bakeries
and bistros next door under one
roof. They have the opportunity
to combine shopping with encounters,
which attracts additional
visitors to these locations.
Less is more
While department stores across
all floors in multi-story buildings
are under pressure, we
are seeing increasing demand
from tenants in the sports and
fashion retail sectors who want
to offer their entire product range
in one central location. In
this way, they are responding to
the trend for consumers to experience,
sample and interact with
their brand. In this context, the
shopping experience is closely
linked to the comprehensive
positioning of the brand.
Occupying up to two floors and
covering an area of 3,500 to
4,500 square meters, their strategy
is no longer to gain market
share by opening more stores,
but to create flagship stores in
prime locations so that customers
can fully experience their
brand.
Never put all your
eggs in one basket
The mixed-use concept is openended
and offers investors the
opportunity to tap into new tenant
groups, from both the private
and public sectors.
We see demand for central locations
from public institutions
and government agencies that
want to offer better accessibility
to their citizens and visitors.
Hospitality concepts are also often
part of mixed-use concepts.
This is because they make central
city center locations accessible
to the general public again,
thus increasing their attractiveness.
For example, Redevco is currently
developing a sustainable
building in Hamburg‘s
Mönckebergstrasse as part of a
demolition and new construction
project with around 15,000
square meters of floor space on
ten floors. Two hotel concepts
are being realized with a mixed
use of short-term and long-term
accommodation. Within the
building, the room height was
expanded and a fungible mixeduse
concept was implemented,
which also allows office or
healthcare use due to its room
heights.
Creating
opportunities
Against the backdrop of rising
interest rates worldwide, we
expect a challenging market
environment for the real estate
asset class. Current valuation
levels are under scrutiny and investors
remain cautious. At the
same time, in our discussions
with investors, we see steady
demand for redevelopment opportunities.
Furthermore, we
remain convinced that buying
opportunities will arise once a
revaluation has taken place.
Inner cities are neither obsolete
nor a relic of the past. European
cities have already changed in
changed in many respects. They
are less polluted, much quieter,
and evolving into experiential
places where sustainability is
paramount. Compared to the
1990s, they offer many more
opportunities for recreation. It‘s
no coincidence that five of the
world‘s most livable cities, according
to the Economist Intelligence
Unit‘s latest survey, are
to be found in Europe - and within
that group, three are in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland.

www.wisag.de
Your shopping centre in the best hands
Perfect cleanliness, uncompromising security and optimum service:
all this keeps not only the customers satisfied, but also tenants and
owners. With our tailored solutions and experience, you will benefit
from optimum management costs. And at all times, we have value
retention and the sustained development of your centre in mind.
We go one step further for you.
Joaquin Jimenez Zabala
Tel. +49 162 7861-324 joaquin.jimenez.zabala@wisag.de

Page 15 T O M
INTERVIEW March 2023
„We also want to grow rapidly in
Germany from this year onwards“
TOM exclusive interview with Jan Hummel, founder of the juice bar chain „Fruitisimo“
Fruitisimo is a chain of modern
juice bars and was founded
in the Czech Republic
around 20 years ago. TOM
Editor-in-Chief Thorsten
Müller recently spoke with
Jan Hummel, one of the company‘s
founders, specifically
about expansion plans for
Germany.
TOM: How did you come up
with the idea of Fruitisimo?
Jan Hummel: The story of
Fruitisimo started during a
Work & Travel program in the
USA, while studying at university.
The level of service and
teamwork I experienced there
inspired me to start Fruitisimo.
TOM: Where did you have
your first store and what experiences
did you have there
that motivated you to turn it
into a chain?
Jan Hummel: We started in
the Czech Republic, Prague to
be exact, where we are also the
biggest presence today. Our experience
here has been very positive
right from the start and we
have been enthusiastically received
by our customers. We now
have a total of 85 stores in three
European countries and over
400,000 customers per month.
TOM: Briefly describe what
your recipe for success is.
Jan Hummel: The Fruitisimo
brand is best described by the
slogan „Live what you love,“
which for us means health, an
active lifestyle, fun, smiles and
passion. This is our special
strength or our „secret recipe“.
We are not about the fastest
blenders or most powerful juicers,
but about people who love
what we do and want to experience
it every time they visit.
TOM: What makes you confident
that there will be significant
progress with your expansion?
Jan Hummel: The model has
proven adaptable to different
markets and formats as the
universal appeal of fresh juice
continues to grow among consumers
seeking a healthier lifestyle.
Fruitisimo is obsessed
with inspiring people to live healthier
lifestyles, helping them
Jan Hummel, founder of Fruitisimo.
to be happier. Flexible formats
allow us to operate in sometimes
very different locations.
TOM: What types of retail
properties are most attractive
or best for you?
Jan Hummel: We are primarily
concerned with the highest
possible visitor frequencies.
These can be successful innercity
shopping centers, e.g. from
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield,
ECE or Klépierre, all of which
are among our landlords, but
also busy pedestrian zones. It is
also always important for us to
have very good visibility for our
30-40 sqm stores - optimally in
Photo: Fruitisimo
the entrance areas of centers or
large properties.
TOM: Beyond that, where do
you plan to offer your products?
Jan Hummel: We also have a
kiosk concept (approx. 15-20
sqm) that will allow us even
greater flexibility in terms of
locations, but of course we also
want to offer products online in
parallel, but we are still in an
early phase here.
TOM: What is your growth
strategy, especially in Germany?
Jan Hummel: We are still very
new in Germany. At the beginning
of February, we started in
the Centrum Galerie Dresden.
The Regensburg Arcaden followed
right behind. But we intend
to get into double digits very
quickly. Munich, Berlin, Hamburg
and the Ruhr area are also
to become Fruitisimo locations
as soon as possible.
TOM: And what will happen
next?
Jan Hummel: We think Germany
is a great market for Fruitisimo.
I think timing is very
important because we have proven
that the concept is strong
enough to survive Covid. I am
sure that healthy concepts are
much more relevant now than
before Corona. Fruitisimo has a
After talking to TOM: Jan Hummel (right) and his two expansion contacts Jens Betge (left, for the German
market) and Ales Hrabak (expansion international).
fantastic positioning at the epicenter
of the health megatrend
with authentic and refined brand
communication, transparency
and emotional connection for
the customer.
We see the potential for 200 locations
in Germany. Based on
experience from existing markets
and the presence of Food
& Beverage brands, this seems
a realistic target. This year we
plan to open 11 stores, and next
year we will densify our expansion
through franchising with
25 new stores. We will franchise
both new stores and existing
stores.

Page 17 T O M
MAP OF THE MONTH March 2023
GfK Affinity for Electric Cars, Germany
GfK‘s Map of the Month for March shows the regional
distribution of affinity for electric cars in Germany.
The e-car industry is booming – but where in
Germany is the affinity for electric cars highest? According
to GfK, residents of the urban district of Weimar
have by far the highest affinity when it comes to
considering an electric car purchase. With an index
value of 213.1, Weimar residents are more than 113
percent above the national average. The urban districts
of Duesseldorf (index 156.2) and Munich (index
151.7) follow in second and third place. The last place
is taken by the Luechow-Dannenberg district: with
an index value of 68.8, the population there is more
than 31 percent below the national average.

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