Survey among tenants

The worst shopping centers in Austria

Without attractive tenants, there is a lack of customers. At least fewer stores are closing this year than last year.

(Bild: Judt Reinhard)

Which Austrian shopping centers and retail parks are performing well, and which ones are slipping? The latest survey of tenants of 157 shopping centers by the German consultant ecostra lists three winners across Austria for the first time. However, five locations clearly fall behind, including four in Vienna.

For twelve years, ecostra has been surveying retailers, restaurateurs and service providers who run their businesses in a total of 98 shopping centers and inner-city malls as well as 59 retail parks. The criteria are how their sales are developing there, whether they are planning further stores and how they see the tenant mix.

"Lots of light and lots of shade" in Vienna
The situation looks particularly bad in Vienna. In addition to the ece in Kapfenberg, four inner-city centers in the Austrian capital - Q19, Meiselmarkt, Citygate and Galleria - are in the "table basement" of the locations rated as least attractive. They are rated between 3 and 4, and these flop positions have almost been "cemented in place" for some time, according to ecostra project manager Thomas Terlinden. They simply don't seem to be able to improve in terms of tenant satisfaction, with the Galleria in Vienna 3 even slipping back to last place.

This accumulation is striking, says Terlinden. "At the same time, however, there are also a number of Viennese centers such as Riverside, The Mall and others that have been among the most successful in Austria for years. There is a lot of light and a lot of shade in the capital." What the stragglers have in common is that they apparently have too few really attractive tenants to draw customers into the centers. As a result, the others also complain about too few customers.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Hofer, Spar, dm, Nike and others do better than their competitors
From the retail professionals' point of view, some of the desired customer magnets are surprisingly clear: Hofer is preferred among food discounters and Spar among supermarkets. As a drugstore, dm is particularly popular, and Rituals among perfumeries. In the fashion sector, retailers rate Zara more highly than H&M, and when it comes to the question of whether Adidas or Nike is preferred as a neighbor, the US brand is ahead for two thirds of respondents.

Although this could be partly due to the personal preferences of the survey participants, "it primarily reflects the expectation as to which of the alternative possible companies would be best able to positively stimulate the shopping center and thus create synergies for their own business," adds ecostra Managing Director Joachim Will. It is not necessarily the objective performance of a concept that counts, but the attractiveness, awareness and positioning of a brand.

Three "good" locations
In addition to the basement dwellers, there are also shopping temples that function excellently. For the first time in twelve years, three locations even received the top rating of "good" from tenants. As the serial winner of previous years, the Dornbirn Messepark remained at the top this time, as did the dez in Innsbruck. The Euromarkt in Kapfenberg has moved up. Following the top 3 are Riverside in Vienna, EZE Eisenstadt, Kaufpark Vösendorf, Europark Salzburg, Neukauf in Spittal/Drau, Infra Center Linz, Weberzeile in Ried/Innkreis, Murpark Graz, SEP Gmunden, Varena Vöcklabruck, eo center Oberwart, The Mall Wien, BahnhofCity Wien West, Donautreff Ottensheim, FMZ Imst, Stadtgalerie Schwaz and BahnhofCity Wien Hauptbahnhof in the good group. 

Model student: The Messepark in Dornbirn

(Bild: Messepark)

Majority want to cut opening hours due to staff shortages
Retail managers are particularly concerned about staff shortages. Almost 62 percent see this as the biggest challenge for their business. An almost equal majority already see reducing opening hours as a solution. "There is an obligation to keep shopping centers open in the rental agreements. Nevertheless, due to a lack of staff, various tenants are no longer able to fully implement these times and have to close the store doors temporarily. Despite the contractual basis, the center management then has little power to act. If there is no staff, the store is simply closed," says Will, explaining the plight.

As a result, the retail chains only want to expand with the handbrake on. The chain stores surveyed are only planning an average of 2.5 new stores across Austria over the next twelve months. This compares to 3.3 new openings in the previous year. They are looking for locations in inner-city shopping streets; smaller local centers and greenfield sites are less in demand. However, on average, only 1.3 locations are still on a closure list, compared to almost 2 previously. ecostra assumes that the streamlining of location networks after corona etc. is largely complete.