Farewell to autumn

As happens every year in Cannes, new records were set for the number of visitors. With a glass of rosé, the developers and tenants attending MAPIC 2011 were able to celebrate the fact that yet another wave of the credit crunch has had a limited impact on the real estate market

Some figures for your attention: according to CBRE's ?How Active are Retailers in EMEA' report, nearly three quarters of international retailers (71 pct) are planning to open more than five stores in Europe, the Middle East and Africa before the end of 2012. At the same time 20 pct of companies are planning to open 40 or more stores before the end of next year (18 pct of the total number of retailers in 2011). Such positive trends and the growing interest in the development of retail chains were evident at the MAPIC international retail property fair in Cannes in November. For three sunny days the French Riviera was visited by 8,000 people from 62 countries - 9 pct more than in 2010. Over 300 retail companies were taking part in the fair for the first time. The total number of companies visiting the fair amounted to 3,350, which is 14 pct more than last year. France was the comprehensively represented among new MAPIC participants, but there were also seven new companies from Poland, around 20 companies from Russia and one from Slovakia. Over 1,000 people came from the CEE region and over 2,800 from Western Europe. Despite the fact that the country of honour this year was Italy, it did not win any of the MAPIC Awards and its only nominated project, in the best refurbished retail development category, was Milano City Center, while the only projects from Central and Eastern Europe to be nominated were the Eurovea project by Ballymore Eurovea (in the best retail development category) in Slovakia and the Galeria Echo shopping centre in Poland (owned by Echo Investment) for best refurbished retail development. Both projects won in their respective categories, with voting contributions from fair participants. Upon receiving the award, Marcin Materny, shopping centre department director at Echo Investment, remarked that "winning such a prestigious competition proves that the Polish retail market is in an excellent condition and is a testament to the stability our economy". Other awards were granted to concepts from Western Europe and the USA. Asics Amsterdam Flagship won in the best new retail concept category, Desigual in Spain received the statuette for the best retail expansion, while American company Abercrombie & Fitch turned out to be the city centre best retailer.