Malls, management and modernity

Fabrice Bansay, president of the board, Apsys Polska: Our strategy focuses on building regional shopping centers in major cities of Poland. We are currently working on a project in Warsaw – a city with great retail potential.

How do you evaluate the Polish retail market?

Polish market is maturing. It is filling up with new facilities, and what is more there has also been a shift in customers’ habits, who are no longer satisfied with ‘ordinary’ malls. You now need to embrace innovation in every aspect: the architecture, customer service standards, openness to technological solutions and the variety of what centres offer, which should not only be limited to the shops. It should also include lifestyle and places where the customer is able to spend time with friends.

Will you introduce these in Posnania?

Yes, we do. In order to do accomplish this we have set up Apsys Lab – a think-tank made up of a team of specialists who first determine, then devise and finally implement new solutions in fields such as mobile technologies, “smart” management and customer service strategies. For example: beacon technology that we are currently testing in Manufaktura, the first mall in Poland, will be used also in Posnania, as well as a shop or a parking place geolocation. Apsys Lab is now developing also click & collect points, which have become very popular in London, for example. In a special area in the centre earmarked for loyal customers, it will possible to try on goods that have been ordered online, return them or collect them. It will also be possible to use concierge services, ask for your car to be washed, and so on. In Posnania shoppers will not require the carrying of bags. We have been doing a lot of travelling and looking at all the most modern approaches.

What will be the mall’s retail offer?

Posnania will not be a shopping but a lifestyle centre, because it will not be limited to shopping. We have planned 30 shops over a huge area, as well as a swimming pool, a fitness club, a cinema, a modern restaurant area with a varied choice. Outdoors there will be green areas, a fountain in a square before the front entrance, where we will organise a variety of events and create an ice-rink. This is designed to be a place that is open to the city and its residents. (...) We are putting an emphasis on the catering offer, including restaurants with a waiter service and alleys with themed culinary offers. We are building a winter garden – a kind of veranda, and summer gardens, where it will be possible to eat while admiring the beautiful view. A more typical food court will be located further inside. We have earmarked 10,000 sqm for this function – 10 pct of the entire area of the mall.

What stage has the construction of Posnania now reached?

We have just finished laying the foundations and have now moved onto work on the ground floor. The underground car parks are ready. We are planning to open the centre in autumn 2016.

How is the leasing process going?

Our leasing level has surpassed 80 pct. We have contracts signed with all the key tenants: a Carrefour hypermarket, Leroy Merlin, Multikino, the LPP and Inditex groups, H&M, Mango, Van Graaf, Douglas, etc. I will also say that brands now present in the centre are leasing considerably larger areas for their flagship outlets than in other malls.

Apsys Polska not only develops shopping centres but also manages them. How many do you currently manage?

Our management portfolio currently includes twenty centres for a number of clients. This comprises a total of more than 700,000 sqm of retail space looked after by Apsys. Not so long ago, after a two-year break, we took over the management of two centres – the Tulipan shopping centre in Łódź and the Kometa shopping centre in Toruń. All the centres we look after have a combined footfall of 90 mln customers. With such a large group of customers we can monitor their needs, moods and changing requirements, which gives us a special insight in how to design centres for future generations taking into account all these factors.

What does shopping centre management entail?

Firstly it is proactive. We always work with all our clients so that we can improve the centres and bring them even closer to their requirements. Judging by the results of our centres, this approach is obviously working well. Last year’s turnover increased by about 6 pct.

And what about the planned extension of the Janki shopping centre, which is also under your management?

I can only say that the mall has significant development potential, with many potential tenants interested in the centre.

Interview conducted by Aneta Cichla