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One of the Old Boys

Poland Monthly 06/12/2006

The annual showcase of the retail world rolled into Cannes in November, and if nothing else it underlined Poland's growing status as a developed market.

One of the Old boys

The annual showcase of the retail world rolled into Cannes In November, and if nothing else it underlined Poland’s growing status as a developed market.

It is rapidly becoming a given law in retail that each year MAPIC gets bigger, and this year was no different. The annual show case for retail space developers, retailers, and high-street innovators in Cannes, was the biggest ever in the event’s 12-year-long history.
The 2006 MAPIC, the International Market for Retail Real Estate, set a new record for attendance in all sectors of the market, from property professionals to retailers and local authorities. With 8,000 delegates from 62 countries, compared to 7,200 last year, attendance grew by 12 percent in just twelve months. “The growing number of participants was really visible”’ says Maciej Kiełbicki, managing director Mayland Real Estate, one of the participating companies.
Key markets from around the world significantly increased the size of their presence. Russia offered a striking example with 73 exhibiting firms compared to 36 last year, a rise of 103 percent, while Germany posted a 48-percent increase in exhibitors with 31 firms, and Spain’s exhibition presence was up 39 percent with 52 firms. Newcomers from Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and India – all countries showing dynamic growth and vitality in the retail real estate sector – added to the flavor.
Another increase this year was the number of retail developers attending: 2,000 participated in 2006, compared with 1,500 last year. Since high-street trading is a key driver of urban renewal, more and more city authorities were trying to showcase their development schemes to retail real estate professionals in an effort to attract brands and property projects.
One example of this was the Polish Council of Shopping Centers (PRCH) stand, a flagship stand for Poland, and according to the organizers, one of the most popular of all the stands at the fair. Compared with its last year’s presence at MAPIC, the stand grew by about 20 percent as more Polish companies attended, which consequently translated into a larger number of projects on display. “The stand was full from the opening to the closing,” says Stephen Pragnell, PRCH president, and the head of retail space developer, Apsys. “All partners went away well satisfied with both the contacts made and business done during the fair.”
Others struck the same upbeat note. “The Polish presence was on the up last year and this year as well,” says Ryszard Leśniewski, president of Gray International, a company set up solely to develop real estate in Poland. “So was the interest in the retail market in Poland,” he added.
On the business and social level, the Polish stand offered exiting opportunities. “As ever, the Polish stand parties where a highlight of MAPIC and all the Polish participants of MAPIC and media used the stand and its facilities as a central meeting place, which was the initial idea of our presence, “ Pragnell explains.
Kiełbicki was also satisfied by the results. “I am very happy with our presence at MAPIC,” he says. “We achieved two of our main goals: reinforcing our company’s image and promoting our four projects. We had many meetings during the fair that will soon result in business.”
One of the cocktail parties at the Polish Stand, an event that attracted nearly 200 people, was sponsored by Echo Investment, a developer of shopping and entertainment centers. The company organized the party to showcase their new projects, the Arena in Słupsk, Metropolis in Poznań, and Mundo in Budapest.
And it was for the Arena mall that Echo signed a deal with a bowling alley operator during MAPIC. ”With a multiplex cinema operator already signed for Arena, the last deal was closing the entertainment part of the center,” says Wojciech Gepner, public relations manager in Echo Investment.
Reflecting a buoyant market with high growth prospects, retailers with innovative concepts were in force. The number of retail companies present in Cannes was up by 200 compared to the same time last year, with more than 1,500 retailer companies at the stands.
Retailer of toys and children’s accessories, Smyk form Poland, will remember MAPIC 2006 for a long time. The company picked up an award for the best leisure store, for its project in Berlin. “We opened up out first store in the das Schloß (The Castle) shopping mall in Berlin,” says Katarzyna Górecka, Smyk’s PR manager. “It is a great environment for shopping, located in an old industrial building with new additions of glass and aluminum.”
The popularity of Smyk, however, was not so obvious when the store opened in March. Smyk’s concept is to sell “All for Small,” which along with toys, groups other children accessories under one roof for young mothers to choose from, such as children’s wear, shoes, feeding bottles, baby carts along with multimedia and toys. “In Germany this is not how toys are sold,” Górecka says. But she admits the Smyk store has become a very popular shopping destination within das Schloß.
Yet, Smyk’s award for a project in Germany underlines the fact that the Polish retail market, Polish retailers and high-street visionaries, have entered the premiere league of European shopping industry. “Smyk winning the MAPIC Award for Best European Leisure Retailer woke up many people to the reality and existence of a coherent dynamic retail offer in Poland,” says Pragnell.
Echo Investment’s Gepner agrees. “Polish companies had a very strong representation, with many interesting projects,” she says. “We [Poland] are a recognizable market, a strong market.”
Leśniewski added to the praise. “I am sure that Smyk deserved the prize,” he says. “It shows that Polish companies represent world standards.” Kiełbicki struck a similar note, saying that it showed that Polish brands could now successfully expand into Europe.
Stephen Pragnell summarizes Poland’s presence at MAPIC as follows: “One dominating fact is that we no longer have to ‘sell’ Poland,” he sums up. “We are now an established market. People were coming to the stand to do business rather than curious to find out what the country is all about.”
He adds, that the fair proved that Poland is no longer an “emerging market”. “The recent well-exposed benchmark projects such as Manufaktura, Stary Browar and Arkadia have put our retail offer on the international map and for the first time,”Pragnell says. “We saw real and strong interest from international retailers in the Polish market and also from Polish retailers to enter the European market.”
For Leśniewski MAPIC underlined the potential of the market that has yet to be utilized. “Despite some opinions that the retail market in Poland has been saturated, the reality we saw as a MAPIC participant seems to prove that there is still potential in the market. But it awaits smart and responsible decisions,“ Leśniewski says. “The market in Poland is mature. There is no room to approach it with the assumption that anything will sell.”
Mayland’s Kiełbicki shares that view. “Despite a huge increase in retail area in Poland, the market has a long way to go before it reaches Western European levels,” he concludes. Whereas big cities are saturated to a large extent, medium sized and small cities still lave potential.”

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