Spain

In Spain supermarkets are increasingly taking space in retail parks, as they can guarantee daily returning visits. Lidl and Aldi have aggressive expansion plans and part of these requirements will be fulfilled in retail parks. Traditional operators are reviewing their expansion strategies, under the impact of rising online sales and they focus on strong performing

schemes for new openings. Besides, new operators have emerged and gained foothold in this market; Sports Direct is aiming to open 10 stores by the end of the year, Pepco household store is looking for units in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, Italian Mondo Convenienza furniture brand is making its debut in Spain and several restaurant brands such as Popeyes, Pepe Taco and Carl’s Jr are expanding nationally. Leisure operators also take positions in schemes that combine convenience with experience. Climbat, part of French group ABEO plans to open six centres across Spain. Dock39, a family entertainment centre with four locations in Spain is looking to grow further via retail parks.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, several new retailers entered the retail park scene in the Czech Republic in 2020 and all of them have expanded rapidly in 2021. Dutch non-food discounter Action opened its first five stores in 2020 and added another 16 new shops in 2021. NKD, a leading apparel retailer in the discount sector, has grown to the current 25 stores and TEDi operates 13 shops. The well-established retailers who usually occupy space in traditional retail parks, like KiK or Pepco, also continue expanding. KiK planned to open 10 new stores in 2021, while Pepco aimed for 25 new openings. The fastest growing supermarket chain in the country this year is Lidl, who intended to expand their portfolio by 25 new shops in 2021, although only some of Lidl’s shops are found within retail parks. Billa also follows their expansion path and plans to open 15 stores in 2021.

Finland

In Finland, Nordic brands (Finnish included) and operators dominate the retail market and they are major tenants in retail warehouses as well. Brands such as Motonet, XXL, Jysk, Tokmanni, Ikea, Gigantti, Stadium, Budget Sport, Verkkokauppa.com, Varuste.net, Byggmax, Puuilo, as well as major hypermarkets such as Prisma and Citymarket, and large supermarkets such as Lidl are main tenants in many retail parks. Services such as veterinary hospitals, playgrounds and other adventure and sport centers have entered retail parks already a few years ago.

UK

Despite the unforeseen reduction in consumer activity across our physical retail environments, retail operators have still been keen to take space. 2020 saw 701 new openings across the market, some way short of the decade average at 839 but certainly not a disaster when you consider the perilous position some retailers found themselves at the onset of the pandemic. For many, unable to trade for large periods, expansion plans were subsequently put on hold for large parts of the last year. The results for Q1 2021 certainly seem to suggest the strong appetite for opening new stores has returned. So far, we have seen 375, suggesting that if the same velocity persists, we could potentially achieve results similar to those seen in 2019, a record year in terms of the number of new store openings in the sector. As much as 40% of units taken in Q1 2021 have been for value-oriented brands, such as Lidl, Aldi, B&M Bargains and others.

Italy

The Italian market is characterised by three main types of retail parks. The most widespread formula is composed by small retail warehouses born along the main road axes promoted by local developers, this is the formula that has seen the greatest development in the last 2- 3 years. The merchandising mix usually comprises a food anchor, generally a supermarket or a discount store, as well as pet-shops, health&beauty and home goods. The second type of retail parks were created to integrate shopping centers, often developed by the same property, with the aim to accommodate those brands that can’t find a location inside the mall due to their large size (Decathlon, DIY, Furnitures). In this case, the attractiveness of the retail pole is strengthened by the different activities present. Large size retail parks in Italy are limited and in any case constitute successful cases due to the excellent performances they have been able to demonstrate over the years. The strength of the formula is also confirmed by the openings that took place in the months of the pandemic with the extension of “Da Vinci Village” in Rome (24,000 sq m), “Serravalle Retail park” in Serravalle Scrivia (35,000 sq m) and the new construction of “Area 151” in Pederobba (TV) with GLA of 24,400 sq m and “Parco 51” in Pomezia (RM) for 20,000 sq m.

In 2021 Immofinanz entered in Italian market as investors buying an existing retail park rebranding it as STOP SHOP. Immofinanz is the owner of 90 commercial parks distributed in 9 countries in Italy and has acquired the "San Fiore" retail park in Conegliano (TV) for a total Gla of 26,500 sq m.