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CENTRE OPENING henderson, McG relaunch D.O. Berlin 12 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal Fall 2009 A struggling center is revitalized and transformed into an outlet village. By STEPhANiE KRAMER Berlin Correspondent Shoppers turned out in droves and in the rain on June 18 for the much-anticipated opening of Designer Outlet Berlin. Just 30 minutes by car from the German capital the new shopping village is a €100 million redevelopment of the old B5 outlet scheme that struggled from the day it opened in 2000. Acquired in April 2006 by Henderson’s Global Outlet Mall Fund, the new owner and its development The transformation of an outlet mall named for a road into the light, bright, treelined Designer Outlet Berlin took three years to accomplish. partner McArthurGlen immediately set to work on revitalizing the site on the B5 motorway. Phase 1 of the two-stage redevelopment is 9,754 m 2 , and construction and leasing have already begun on the 6,746m 2 phase 2. Completion of the second phase, set for autumn 2010, will bring the center to 16,500 m 2 . Comparisons with the previous center are inevitable for a while, but according to Henrik Madsen, managing director of McArthurGlen for the UK and Northern Europe, there is “no comparison between the two projects.” Referring to the B5 center, he said, “They had some great brands, but not all. The current project is well led, well promoted and well organized. If we’ve got the brands the customers want, they will come.” Phase 1 of Designer Outlet Berlin includes retailers such as Strenesse, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Rene Lizard, Levi’s, Adidas, Replay and Fossil. Jayson Egan, head of asset management at Henderson Global Investors, sees the changing mood among retailers in Europe, where outlet centers have been slower to catch on than in the U. S. “Retailers are generally skeptical of the unknown,” he explains, “but now they understand outlet centers and have grasped the positive aspects of the business.” Henderson owns nine outlet centers operated by McArthurGlen, the largest developer, owner and manager of outlet villages in Europe. McArthurGlen helped launch the outlet village concept in Europe in 1995 and operates 17 centers in continental Europe and the U.K. with total sales in 2008 reaching nearly €2 billion. Despite years of trying, Designer Outlet Berlin is McArthurGlen’s first center in Germany, although 85 percent of the shoppers coming to its scheme in Roermond, Holland, are German. That
Weeks after its June opening, Designer Outlet Berlin was still attracting 5,000 visitors a day looking for their favorite brands, including Adidas, Fossil, Miss Sixty and Replay. center, which opened in 2001, posted sales growth of more than 10 percent last year. The mayor of Wustermark, Bernd Drees, has called the new center’s 16th Century styling a “village within a village.” The overall look is consistent with McArthurGlen schemes, reflecting the local culture and architecture, but also the tight restrictions that hampered the previous project. In 2005, after McArthurGlen announced its interest in taking over the project, a settlement was reached in the legal dispute surrounding planning. To accommodate restrictions on allowable retail space, the esteemed architect Moritz Kock proposed a design consisting of two separate areas, a north and a south section, which are joined by a tree-lined square. The plans were accepted and the project was allowed to proceed. Kock died earlier this year in an airplane crash. Shoppers looking for a pleasant outing will find Designer Outlet Berlin the place to go. Individual storefronts open onto winding brick sidewalks, with trees and park benches lining the walkway, inviting weary shoppers to stop and rest in the fresh air. At least three restaurants are in the planning, and several corner cafes offer indoor and outdoor seating. Nearly 6 million people live within 90 minutes of the center. Since its opening, the center has seen an average of 5,000 visitors daily. Though Berlin has been hard hit by unemployment, tourism there is still doing well. In fact, Berlin is Germany’s No. 1 tourist destination, attracting more than 7.5 million visitors a year. DESiGNER OUTLET BERLiN TENANT LiST Adidas Camel Act CK Jeans Crocs Daniel Hechter Ecko Unltd. Estella Fossil Geox Gold Dock Häagen Dazs Hallhuber Home & Cook Jacques Heim K.I.D.S. Kunert Lego Levi’s Lloyd Mango This year, with elaborate celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, even more tourists are expected. And McArthurGlen expects tourism to continue to grow in the city whose motto is “poor but sexy.” “Berlin will always have a special connotation,” Madsen says. Local shoppers are drawn to the center, too, in search of quality at a discount. Bernd Drees put it plainly: Local shoppers are looking to buy high-quality goods, he said, “but with a small wallet.” c Marc O’Polo Marc Picard MEXX Miss Sixty Möve Nike Olymp René Lezard Replay Seidensticker San Francisco Coffee Company St. Emile Strenesse Sunglass Time Tom Tailor Tommy Hilfiger Villeroy & Boch Fall 2009 InternatIOnal Outlet JOurnal 13
Page 1 and 2: COVER STORY Loving Outlet Shopping
Page 3 and 4: PAGE 4 STAFF PETER ShARPE ICSC ChaI
Page 5 and 6: know-how Nobody knows Outlets bette
Page 7 and 8: THE NINE CHIC OUTLET SHOPPING ® VI
Page 9 and 10: Chart No. 2 FOC PERFORMaNCE Where t
Page 11: Building on strong brands BATAVIA S
Page 16 and 17: PlaNNED PROJET UPDaTES Construction
Page 18 and 19: NEW PlaNNED PROJETS Premium to deve
Page 20: OPERaTIONS Gva outlet division laun
Page 23 and 24: Fashion Arena plans expansion DOUBL
Page 25 and 26: Filea Spa’s Mondovicino Factory O
Page 28: The first FASHION HOUSE Outlet Cent

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