At the beginning of this year, shopping centers experienced a change in the growing turnover and footfall trends due to the omicron wave of the pandemic and the unfavorable economic situation: rising inflation, rising interest rates, as well as consumer concerns caused by tax changes and high utility charges. Turnover in shopping centers, according to data for January 2022, reached 87.6% compared to the first month of 2019.
According to the data of the Polish Council of Shopping Centers (PRCH), footfall in February was 89% of the value for the corresponding month of 2019 and 108.3% in February 2021.
In January 2022, the PRCH Turnover Index (shopping center turnover index) was 12.4% lower compared to the corresponding month in 2019. The results recorded at the beginning of this year are a breakthrough of the current trend of systematically growing, since May 2021, turnover In the past months, the turnover increased by as much as 102% of the pre-pandemic value. Turnover in shopping centers in the period from May to December 2021 was only 0.75% lower than in 2019 and accounted for 130% of the turnover for the same period in 2020.
The analysis in terms of the size of commercial facilities showed that the smallest (by 6.6%) decrease in turnover compared to 2019 was observed in the category of large shopping centers (with an area of 40-60 thousand m2 GLA). The largest (19.6%) difference compared to the period before the start of the pandemic was recorded in medium-sized facilities (with an area of 20-40 thousand m2 GLA). Not all industries experienced the negative effects of the January-February pandemic wave. The companies in the Food category did the best, with a turnover of 125.8% of the results from January 2019, and companies in the Electronics and Home Appliances category, whose result was 9.9% better than the result in this category in 2019.
“Lower footfall and turnover in shopping centers at the beginning of this year are a consequence of the omicron wave of the pandemic, which kept hundreds of thousands of Poles at home in January and February. The economic situation in Poland, which affects consumer moods, is also important. Buyers affected by inflation and rising interest rates cut shopping spending in the first months of this year. First of all, consumers meet their basic needs, hence the increase in turnover in tenants selling food,” commented Krzysztof Poznański, CEO.
The Polish Council of Shopping Centers (PRCH) is a not-for-profit association that brings together nearly 200 companies operating in the retail and service space industry.
Source: PRCH and ISBnews
