Shopping trolleys fill up once again

Let’s start with a few numbers: In December 2022, there was around 15,700 sqm of retail space in Poland, which includes 410,000 sqm handed over in the last few months. The largest centre to open in Poland last year was Karuzela in Kołobrzeg (30,000 sqm), and the largest transaction in both Poland and the CEE region was the EUR 250 mln acquisition of Forum Gdańsk. According to a report by BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, around 270,000 sqm was under construction that was to be completed before December 2024. The largest such developments include Koszalin Power Center (38,000 sqm), Karuzela in Biała Podlaska (28,000 sqm) and Vendo Park in Szczecin (24,000 sqm). Hypermarkets show no fear As can be seen, investors have mainly trained their sights on smaller centres. “Retail parks and shopping centres within inhabited areas of smaller towns that provide retail and restaurant services are still popular with local residents, since they meet all their basic needs in one plac