Poland’s retail real estate market saw a space loss of 19,000 sqm in Q3 of this year and the total stock of modern retail space currently stands at around 16 million sqm, according to Cushman & Wakefield. A total of 500,000 sqm remains under construction, of which, according to announcements, up to approx. 200,000 sqm of retail space.
“The period from July to September 2023 in the Polish retail market was characterized by a negative supply of -19,000 sqm. New openings, which took place in the third quarter of the year, delivered 43,000 sqm of new space to the market, but at the same time there were closures of as much as 62,000 sqm. It is worth noting, on the other hand, that a total of about 144,000 sqm was delivered to the market in the first half of the year, which somewhat offsets the negative supply result from Q3, which was primarily the result of the closing of Poznan’s 54,000 sqm Galeria Malta,” C&W’s head of research Ewa Derlatka-Chilewicz said..
In addition, the smaller Belgian shopping center ceased operations in Q3. In contrast, new space during the period was provided by the openings of three new facilities and expansions of four existing ones, all of which involved the currently most popular retail park format. The largest facility opened was the 19,000 sqm Karuzela retail park in Biała Podlaska. The two other new parks were Go! Park in Jaslo and Vendo Park in Lapy. In turn, the market was additionally enriched by about 10,500 sqm due to completed expansions, they also mentioned.
In the third quarter, the Polish retail market welcomed six debuts. American restaurant chain Popeyes, Lithuanian Candy Pop, Ukrainian fashion brand Solmar, Spanish jewelry brand Acium, Italian restaurant brand L’Osteria and Polish brand from the Home & Deco category Zwieger, which until now was only available online, opened its first stores in our country. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 18 brands have debuted on the Polish market, which is a comparable and stable result with respect to previous years, it was further reported.
Visitors to shopping centers and parks during the holiday season averaged 463,000 shoppers in July, while in August they averaged 478,000 per retailer. This represents increases of 4.5% and 6.3%, respectively, over last year. Analyzing visitation by facility size, the highest increases are recorded for the largest ones with a GLA of more than 60,000 sqm – 8.2% y/y and large ones (40,000-60,000 sqm) – 7.3% y/y, it was also reported.
Tenant turnover in modern retail facilities in July reached an average of PLN 1,071 net per sqm of space. In August, the result was slightly better, at PLN 1,107 net per sqm. Nominal increases, however, were 6.5% y/y in July and 8.5% y/y in August. In real terms, after adjusting for inflation, we still see turnover down 4.3% y/y in July and 1.6% y/y in August. However, due to declining inflation, real turnover declines are not as deep as they were just a few months ago, according to C&W data.
The average vacancy rate in retail facilities in Poland’s largest cities fell by 1.2 percentage points y/y and now stands at 3.5% of space. Importantly, the drop in vacancies applies to as many as six of the eight largest cities surveyed, with the least vacant rental space to be found in Krakow, Łódź and Szczecin, according to the report.
Source: C&W and ISBnews
