Arricano Real Estate : Development, remodeling and social innovation — Arricano's plans for 2022. Anna Chubotina CEO Arricano

The Ukrainian Real Estate Club - URE Club - hosted the annual conference of market players on the annual results for 2021 in the commercial, office and residential real estate market. On behalf of Arricano, Anna Chubotina, CEO of the company, took part, sharing with market experts corporate observations, as well as what decisions were made and with what experience Arricano started 2022. Read more about this in the op-ed for the Property Times.

Leisure time offline
2021 was a year of dynamic recovery for the retail real estate and retail industry, and in many aspects there was a revival of plans and ambitions. In such retail categories as "electronics", "fashion" and "sports", we managed to achieve and exceed the indicators of 2019. We see how the entertainment segment, which is fundamentally important for the development of the shopping mall, is gradually being revived. After all, a cinema with new bright world premieres, a food court, restaurants and children's entertainment centers are those attractive and emotional segments for leisure that, creating a unique shopping experience, allow you to rebuild offline from online.

Receipt traffic
From the practice of Arricano, and we manage two regional shopping malls in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih and two in Kyiv, it is clear that buyers returned to shopping malls faster after restrictions were eased, which helped restore traffic, increase conversions and sales of tenants. For us, as a management company, the challenge was to stimulate the growth of the average amounts in receipts. To do this, we continue to work on balancing the tenant mix, taking into account consumer habits and requests, and stimulate consumer interest in offline and online marketing activities, in which we actively attract our tenants.

Remodeling the shopping malls
This year, remodeling is planned in the regional shopping malls - City Mall and Sun Gallery: updating the format of the food anchor with a reduction to 4,500 square meters in both projects and expanding to 30% of the area of the shopping gallery of the mall by attracting new popular brands in the categories "Fashion", "Sports", "Electronics", and "Household Goods". A cooperation agreement has already been signed with the Ukrainian retail chain Silpo, whose supermarket format meets the request of the audience of shopping malls in Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia. This will definitely increase the synergy and growth of the gallery's tenants. Remodeling works on the territory of existing hypermarkets will begin in April this year. The opening of renovated supermarkets and part of the shopping gallery in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022. At the same time, shopping malls will continue to operate and receive visitors in the usual mode with an enhanced marketing program for interaction with customers.

About Lukianivka shopping mall
Lukianivka shopping mall is a priority for Arricano and a landmark facility for Kyiv, which is scheduled to open in 2023. Now we are continuing construction and at the same time finalizing the updated project concept, which will take into account the latest trends in commercial real estate development, which were discussed by representatives of leading international development companies at the MAPIC Industry Exhibition in November 2021: versatility, harmonious integration into the city landscape, assistance in improving infrastructure and quality of life of the population. In the updated concept of the shopping malls, we plan to strengthen the function of F&B, expand the representation of food courts and restaurants, and add "green" areas for a comfortable stay of our visitors.

Social component of the shopping mall
Last year turned out to be a landmark year for the shopping mall industry, when under the patronage of industry associations, players managed not only to rally, defending their position before the authorities, but also to provide a shoulder of support by organizing vaccination points in the shopping malls. It was a complex but highly significant project from the point of view of the social component. The shopping malls have a high degree of interaction with the community formed around the shopping mall. It was easier for visitors to decide to get vaccinated in shopping malls that are trusted and comfortable to be in. For example, as of October 2021, 10% of residents of the entire region were vaccinated in the City Mall in Zaporozhzhia.

In the portfolio of each European developer there are socially significant CSR initiatives that companies develop within the framework of the ESG policy of the companies. We fully share and in some ways are ahead of the established European trends. Last year, we implemented more than 10 social projects in each Arricano's shopping mall. The most resonant among them is Teachers' Self Upgrade for teachers to motivate them and inspire them to develop themselves, for the further development of students. To implement the project, the brand partners of Prospekt shopping mall, the district state administration and educational public organizations joined forces. For Arricano, this was a kind of go beyond the main specialization of retail, moving to the educational plane, when teachers came to the shopping mall to study.

In 2022, we will continue to focus on solving problems - what else is interesting and useful to implement in order to improve our shopping malls, strengthen communication with communities and develop partnerships with tenants, with innovative ideas and a non-standard approach.

Source: https://propertytimes.com.ua