All Outlet Eyes Turn to Asia - Value Retail News

PlaNNEd iN GErmaNY
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quality brands as well as restaurants,
cafes, a child care area, and a tourist information
center. All of this is housed
in an appealing design that combines
the classic, modern architecture of
nearby cities with individual, boutiquelike
shops fashioned after the houses
typically seen in the local countryside.
About 1,200 parking spaces will be
built and a shuttle service will connect
the center with downtown Soltau and
Heide Park.
In addition to 300-400 jobs created by
Wiedemar Fashion Outlet Brehna Outlet Park
Site fight brews near leipzig
In Leipzig, the second largest city in the former East
Germany, two projects have sprung up less than 15
miles apart. “Perhaps the region can sustain more
than one outlet center,” Buchsteiner says, but with two
centers racing head-to-head to be the first, “the air is
getting thin. It’s going to be first come-first served.”
Wiedemar Fashion Outlet
Stable International’s second planned project in
Germany, Wiedemar Fashion Outlet, is already more
than 50 percent leased and construction has already
begun. The opening of the 16,000-m2 center with its
70 tenants and 2,000 parking spaces is scheduled for
spring 2012.
The center, directly on the A9 motorway within easy
reach of more than 6 million residents, is enclosed to
accommodate the climate.
“Leipzig is extremely dynamic,” says Anneliese
Hovinga of Stable International. “It is different from
what you typically see in East Germany. The population
is highly educated and they have interesting spending
power.”
20 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal SummEr 2011
the center itself, Mutschler is confident
that Designer Outlet Soltau will benefit
the region as a whole.
“From the beginning, we have tried
to create as many win-win strategies as
possible in the region,” she says, “so
that rather than going home, people will
say ‘it’s worth it to spend a couple of
days.’”
Montabaur Fashion Outlet
Montabaur Fashion Outlet, developed
by Dutch-based Stable International,
is scheduled to open in 2012.
Montabaur’s site is directly on the A3,
one of Germany’s most important
North-South motorways, and is also
accessible by a high-speed train line
connecting Cologne and Frankfurt.
Montabaur is near the scenic Rhine
River, where 7 million people live
within a 90-minute drive.
The 13,500-m2 center will offer 60
brands and will create about 500 jobs
directly and indirectly. Stable generally
devotes about 10 percent of the space
to restaurants and cafes to increase
dwell times. c
Brehna Outlet Park
In the nearby town of Brehna, another Dutch developer,
One Outlet Services, is also hoping to be the first
to open its doors in Leipzig. Brehna Outlet Park is a
joint venture with ITG of Düsseldorf to convert an existing
shopping center into an outlet center. The indoor
center with a glass roof will offer 23,000 m2 of retail
space for 120 brands. About 1,850 parking spaces will
be available. The project is expected to create about
500 jobs.
A soft opening is planned for the spring of 2012, and
demolition of the existing site has begun. The PEP
supermarket will remain, but the outlet center will be
a separate structure with its own access road from the
A9 motorway.
“The area around Leipzig has a lower disposable
income than other parts of Germany,” says Robert Van
den Heuvel of One Outlet Services, “but for outlets,
inexpensive merchandise is core.”
Brehna Outlet will offer a mixture of German and
international brands. Van den Heuvel, a former Nike
executive, says, “The brands offered at Brehna Outlet
Park will match the average income. We’re aiming for
the middle and up – but the middle is big.” c