For Designer Style, It's All Outlet - Value Retail News

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graNd OpENiNgS Greeks finding lots to like at sunny center in Athens McArthurGlen’s 21,000-m 2 Designer Outlets Athens has been exceeding projected sales and footfall by more than 20 percent since its opening in June. 6 InternAtIOnAl Outlet JOurnAl Fall 2011 McArthurGlen’s newest outlet center brightens up Greece’s dim economy with big discounts and a sparkling food offer. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And lately, the tough are going outlet shopping. That old adage has been proven true in toughtimes Greece ever since McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Athens opened on June 2. Nearly three months after the grand opening, sales in the center were 22 percent above expectations with no relief in sight, despite the country’s famously beleaguered economy. And as testimony to the healing powers of outlet shopping, these sales are being driven primarily by Greek shoppers until the tourist season starts, according to Eric Decouvelaere, the developer’s director for Southern Europe. “One of the things we are most pleased about is the extremely happy feedback from the shoppers,” said Decouvelaere, who oversees 10 centers throughout Italy, France, Belgium and now Greece. “We have 78 stores open and we have been careful to merchandise this center with the shoppers in mind.” To that end, the 21,000-m2 center has four types of tenancy: international luxury, international fashion, leading Greek brands and food tenants. The center’s 10 restaurants provide everything from ice cream to cafes to sit-down restaurants, and they are an obvious draw for locals, even on Sundays when Greek law doesn’t allow retail shops to open. “We have 4,000 to 5,000 people come on Sundays just to meet up with their friends over a meal or a snack,” Decouvelaere said. “And then they window shop together.” To optimize the consumer’s experience, the developer has created
the McArthurGlen Retail Academy, which helps brands hone all aspects of retailing, from staffing and training, to inventory management, pricing, merchandising, store design, and, in particular, customer service. In fact, Decouvelaere and other MCG executives have strong retail backgrounds. His experience includes positions with the Printemps department store chain and luxury textile company Dormeuil, where he launched a line of bespoke men’s suits. When completely tenanted, the €100 million center – MCG’s sixth in three years – will have 110 tenants. Located in Spata, 30 minutes from central Athens, the center is designed in the neoclassical style in pale pinks and soft yellows, with stone flooring and fountains. The buildings, composed of scaled-down urban units rather than a monolithic shopping structure, are extensively varied and form a succession of open air spaces and sheltered walkways leading to shops, clearings, seating areas and cafés. Although the center has two levels – three, really since the 1,350 parking spaces are underground – the project’s pleasing scale helps Designer Outlets Athens fit aesthetically into the area’s residential and agricultural surroundings. The center’s architectural elements include small roofs, pergolas, small doorways and differentiation of each shop unit. The main thing about this center, Decouvelaere said, is that “It’s just a very cool place. You just have to see it.” c McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Athens tenants include: Accessorize Adidas Alberta Ferretti A.L.E. American Vintage Anna Maria Mazaraki Attrattivo Billabong Bill Cost BoConcept Body Talk Brooks Brothers BSB Chipie Class Roberto Cavalli Colin’s Colori Columbia Diesel Docksteps DPAM Edward Jeans Element Eye Q Fila Gant Gianfranco Ferre Ginestra Guess Gutteridge Haralas House & Travel Hugo Boss Hunter Iceberg Interni Architecturally, Designer Outlets Athens incorporates urban features such as small roofs and doorways, open-air walkways and differentiated shop fronts for a pleasing pedestrian scale. Kalogirou Kem Lacoste Lapin Lussile Luna Mandarino Marasil Matou France Mefisto Moschino My Home Nara Camicie Navy Green New Balance Nike Nine West Notos Galleries Oxette Oxford Company Papasotiriou Polo Ralph Lauren Reebok Replay Rococo Salvatore Ferragamo Sebago Skechers Staff Symbol Toi & moi Tommy Hilfiger Trussardi Tsakiris Mallas Vardas Venus Victoria Versace Waks, Yazz restaurants & Cafes: Ambiente Caffe Corso Como Cucina Italiana Haagen Dazs Café I Grill Il Barretto Meat Me Palmie Bistro Piazza di Nero Ya Su Fall 2011 InternAtIOnAl Outlet JOurnAl 7
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