Fitter together

Piotr Szymonski, expansion director, CityFit: Last year we opened six new clubs, strengthening our position in existing locations, such as Warsaw, where we now have five clubs, while entering new markets, including Poznań, Kraków and Toruń. In March we will be opening in Warsaw’s Sadyba district and in Gliwice, while we will also be opening another club in Lublin. The pace of expansion will be faster than last year.

Carrefour Polska has now partnered up with CityFit. Clubs already operate in two centres owned by Carrefour Polska: Zielone Wzgórze in Białystok and CH AKS in Chorzów. Are you happy with these locations?

Piotr Szymonski: Chorzów was our second club in Silesia and it contributed to the strengthening of our position in this region. Białystok is our first location in this region of Poland and our centre has been perfectly integrated into the fitness training map of the city due to its convenient location. We are very pleased with the results of both these clubs. They achieved their sales targets in the first few weeks of their operations.

What is your tenant-landlord relationship like? What are your expansion plans under this agreement?

Ewa Karska, director, Carrefour Polska shopping centres: Our partnership with CityFit has been excellent. Both clubs – in Chorzów and Bialystok – are a perfect fit for the new image of our modernised shopping centres. This has been one of our priorities while we have been re-leasing the space, which is why we are thinking about furthering our partnership with CityFit.

Piotr Szymonski: It’s worth pointing out that exercising is a repeated activity, and that means that our club members visit the building regularly – sometimes even several times a week. Therefore it is certainly a strategic fit for both companies that will lead to mutual benefits.

Piotr Szymonski, expansion director, CityFit

What do your customers think about this tenant?

Ewa Karska: Both clubs have met the expectations of our local customers, but they also fit into the broader strategy of the Carrefour brand. Added to that, in both of these centres we have seen clear increases in footfall and turnover after the completion of their modernisation. It shows that a well-tailored and diverse tenant-mix, including the presence of a range of sports retailers as well as modern interiors and a strong grocery operator, are the most important elements for the contemporary consumer.

The fitness sector is very competitive, with many new concepts appearing on the Polish market. How do you assess the direction of the development of this segment and what’s CityFit’s strategy for the future?

Piotr Szymonski: The fitness market in Poland is growing and will continue grow. We are and will remain an active player in its development. Last year was very fluid: the collapse of the Jatomi chain, several chains postponing their expansion plans while others grew rapidly at the same time. For us, this situation has opened up many new opportunities, but we have also become aware of several risks that might lie ahead. That’s why our expansion policy has not changed and we are still very conservative when we analyse each new location. We have our criteria regarding, for example, the quality, the catchment area and a number of technical issues – and we stick to them closely.

And what are your further plans for the development of entertainment in the centres owned by Carrefour Polska?

Ewa Karska: Our main goal for 2019 is to mostly maintain our high footfall because this guarantees our tenants the right level of turnover. In 2018 the largest Carrefour shopping centres recorded increases in footfall, which to an extent resulted from having a larger range of entertainment on offer. Therefore we will continue to expand and improve this area of our operations as we re-lease our entire portfolio of buildings.

A good entertainment partner is now a must in a shopping centre. Why is it so important?

Ewa Karska: On the shopping centre market consumers’ requirements are now rapidly changing. In the era of retail digitalisation, as shopping shifts to the internet, shopping centres are being re-purposed to become multifunctional shopping, entertainment and leisure centres. Tenants such as fitness clubs, play zones and cinemas can be a powerful magnet for attracting consumers to malls. Fitness is a service that cannot be transferred online completely – mainly because of the need to use specialist training equipment. CityFit is an example of a partner that is able to provide our customers with high quality services, and this is a key element for us. This partnership is also reflected in the footfall. An example of this can been seen in the annual average footfall in CH AKS in Chorzów, which increased a year after the opening of the CityFit club there, despite the Sunday trading ban.