Malls to become more entertainment orientated

"Polish shopping centres are not dead. Currently countries with the fastest growing shopping centre markets include Turkey, Poland, Russia, but also Western Europe. However, the shopping centre concepts keep evolving. Therefore there are new formats as well as changes to the definition of a shopping centre. They now might be a mixture of a retail park, a shopping centre, an outlet centre. Their formats might be smaller and different than what we have seen before. Entertainment sections are now getting larger, they feature not only a cinema or a bowling alley but also other amenities such as a ski slopes, rope parks and even surfing spots etc.," said Radosław Knap, general director, Polish Council of Shopping Centres. "Developers will definitely focus on refreshing concepts and buildings of the shopping centres built 15, 20 or even 10 years ago," he added.

"The market is already mature. New retail projects are continually being opened, while existing projects are being expanded. This means that there will be some room for new concepts soon, which is good for us. Moreover, eating out is becoming increasing popular. The trend is easy to spot at the shopping centres, where restaurant zones are being expanded. We are very optimistic about the future of the retail market," said Andrzej Uryga, CEO, Sparrow 4, master franchise of Dairy Queen speak about the trends and the development of the retail market in Poland.