A dozen new tenants, traffic growth and adoption of ESG strategy. Blue City sums up 2023 and reveals plans for next year. The Blue City shopping centre ended the year with good results. In December alone, five new tenants opened their doors at 179 Jerozolimskie Avenue. At the beginning of December, the Popeyes restaurant, the ODStore confectionery shop and The Whiskey, something for connoisseurs of stronger spirits, enriched the offer.
The opening of the Zlota Bila billiards centre received widespread media coverage. Occupying an area of over 2,000 m2, the premises contain 40 tables for various varieties of billiards, making Zlota Bila the largest place of its kind in Warsaw. In addition, the club has chosen Wojciech Szewczyk – the only Pole ever to win the billiard world championship – as the venue for his training. The club has also started recruiting for a professional billiard school for children – as the owners have ambitions to find the next world champion.
Another of the tenants that has added to Blue City’s entertainment offer is the Przerób-my Creative Centre. The idea here is as simple as it is innovative. At the front, there is a shop with Polish design and handicrafts by renowned artists, while at the back of the premises, on over 300 m2, there is a workshop equipped with tools, equipment, tables and materials for creative work. The Przerób-my hosts handicraft workshops for children and adults in a full range of themes – from tailoring, making your own lamps, pots, to woodwork or decoupage.
– In the near future, we have plans to open a large shop of a well-known fashion brand, and there will also be several relocations of current tenants. In 2023, we achieved a strong 13 per cent increase in the number of visitors compared to the previous year, and thus managed to return to pre-pandemic visitation levels,” says Executive Vice President Yoram Reshef.
Increasing choice in the Food City zone and new tenants.
As far as Blue City’s food offer is concerned, last year it expanded not only with the aforementioned Popeyes outlet, but also, for example, with Pesto Café – a cosy family restaurant serving mainly Italian dishes, and the well-known Green Caffè Nero café. In addition, Master Burger, a restaurant serving premium burgers, made its debut on the Polish market in 2023, having chosen Blue City as its first location in Poland.
Other tenants include Hair Shop, a salon with professional cosmetics and accessories for hair care, colouring and styling, Molton, a Polish brand with exclusive clothing for women, Flying Tiger Copenhagen and Sports Direct, a British giant with sports equipment and clothing.
The shops continuously open in the summer are very popular with customers: the 2500 m2 Half Price and the Steve Madden shoe salon.
Blue City greener.
Last year will also go down in Blue City’s history, as the shopping centre adopted an ESG strategy, committing itself to, among other things, launching electric vehicle chargers, signing green clauses with tenants, installing photovoltaic panels and, ultimately, achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Also last year, the Veturillo city bike station – Blue City – opened in its new guise.
The shopping centre has also diversified the way it communicates with customers – from April 2023, the brand heroes Hamster and Owl appear on posters and advertising screens, as well as on the official website and social media channels. The introduction of Blue City’s mascots was launched with the slogan ‘Have fun and save money’ directly linked to the created characters – the cheerful, fun-loving Hamster and the Owl, representing shopping sense.
Special events: flagship and non-commercial.
As usual, there was no shortage of special events – more than 40 in total took place at the shopping centre in 2023, starting with the proprietary Jarmar Produktów Regionalnych (Regional Products Fair), which has been taking place for several years and promotes artisanal, local food, through the Polish fashion fair Shop Local! or the Great Antiquarian Fair organised by an association of antiquarians and people selling vinyl, to the cyclical Art and Craft Fair promoting Polish artists.
In addition, Blue City has traditionally been the stage of the Egurrola Grand Prix dance competitions for young dancers from all over Poland. Twice a year, during breaks from school, a race track for remote-controlled model cars stands on level -1 – an event organised in cooperation with a long-standing tenant, the professional model shop ATA. It is also in Blue City that the local finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is held, co-organised by the Youth Cultural Centre “Ochota” and students from local schools.
Blue City honoured.
2023 was also a year of prestigious awards. As part of the 15th edition of the CEE Retail & Marketplace competition organised by EuropaProperty and supervised by experts from EY, Blue City was recognised twice.
The centre received an award in the Ultimate Retail Destination category for its fashion, entertainment and catering offer. In turn, Blue City’s vice-president Yoram Reshef was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for lifetime achievement. Yoram Reshef has for years been recognised as one of the country’s most prominent shopping centre development specialists. He oversaw the construction of Blue City and has been managing it since 2004 as vice-president of the company’s management board. He has been involved in the shopping centre industry in Poland for 25 years.
What will 2024 be like, a jubilee year for Blue City, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary? Yoram Reshef does not want to reveal too much. The plans certainly include the development of the non-standard entertainment offer for which the centre is famous, as well as the expansion of the food and beverage offer. In addition to this, we are constantly developing as part of the ESG strategy we have put in place.
“In the autumn, we will invite Varsovians to a special event to celebrate our 20th birthday. And I can assure you that there is plenty to look forward to, as we have no shortage of unique celebration ideas,” says Yoram Reshef.
“Twenty years is a beautiful age, we are still young, we are not afraid of challenges and we look boldly into the future,’ adds the Blue City vice-president.
Source: Blue City
