17 November, 2011
The “Fashion Outlet Centre”, a popular retail format in western countries, will soon appear in Ukraine. The Kiev E95 Fashion Outlet Centre, a joint project between EVO Land Development and Chameleon Retail Centraleurope, will become the first Fashion Outlet Centre in Ukraine, built to meet the modern requirements and international standards of this format.
In October 2011 Kiev E-95 Outlet Centre, where DTZ has been appointed as the local exclusive leasing agent, passed a major milestone and was granted a construction permit. The Kiev E-95 Outlet Centre will fill a special niche sector in the Ukrainian retail market, totally unlike a standard shopping centre in design, marketing and, particularly in operational management.
Kiev E-95 Outlet Centre will comprise 26,000 sq m of leasing area, 2,300 of visitor parking spaces, a supermarket, entertainment centre and taxi parking zones, as well as regular bus services, which will bring customers to the outlet and drive them back to the city. This development is expected to become a project of national importance, attracting a large number of Kiev residents, visitors from regional centres in Ukraine and passing trade from people travelling along the Saint Petersburg-Kiev-Odessa of the E95 motorway.
Experience shows that most successful outlets in the world are positioned as “destination centres” for tourists and visitors. All located in popular attraction areas with numerous sights nearby, they create an enhanced shopping experience. For instance, the Bicester Village, in the UK, is approximately one hour from both London and Birmingham, and on the way to major historical attractions such as Oxford, the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as Blenheim Palace and Warwick Castle. It has become one of the UK's most visited tourist destinations.
Another example is the Potomac Mills Outlet Center, located in the state of Virginia, US, which comprises numberous historical attractions and several major amusement parks, such as Locust Shade Park, Prince William Forest Park and Leesylvania State Park. Millions of tourists are drawn into the areas each year, creating an unforgettable shopping and leisure experience.
Tourists will be an important source of E95 outlet visitors as EVO’s program «Tourism + Kiev E95 Outlet Centre» is being actively promoted. It aims to draw tourists to the first outlet centre in Ukraine, as well as historical sites along the motorway and promote the culture of out-of-town fashion outlet shopping.
As well as the Kiev E95 Outlet Centre project drawing the attention of potential visitors, there is strong interest from fashion retailers, attracted by the outlet’s outstanding features which favorably distinguish it not only from traditional shopping centres but also from a number of smaller more central low end ‘discount centres’.
According to statistics from “Hollander, Cohen & McBride Research” the ratio of repeat and new customers in outlets and shopping malls corresponds to 71% in favour of outlets. Outlet customers spend an average of two hours and six minutes at the mall, which is 60% longer than they stay at traditional retail centres. Furthermore, the average expenditure per visit is 79% higher than regional malls.
Many international brands in Ukraine already have discount stores, a concept which Ukrainians are already familiar with. The Kiev E95 Outlet Centre will however provide a higher visiting rate with 135 stores in one complex.
Gradually replacing existing discount centres and centrally located discount stores, the Kiev E95 Outlet Centre will contribute to the development of the modern retail format in Ukraine, involving professional retail property management, as well as improving the quality of service, both for shoppers and retailers.
Nick Cotton, Managing Director of DTZ said: “The Kiev E95 Outlet Centre is ideally located, within 30 minutes of Kiev city centre. This enables fashion brands to centralise their discounted stock in one location sufficiently distant from their main price shops so as to not to compete on price and, also enabling them to give up expensive city centre stores where they are presently discounting.
“The critical mass of 135 fashion stores all required to guarantee a minimum 30% discount from high street prices will attract high visitor numbers. The real difference between fashion outlet shopping and other city centre and out-of-town retail is that visitors to fashion outlets tend to visit less frequently but when they do, they visit with the sole purpose of making significant purchases to take advantage of a wide selection of discounted prices. This widens the visitor catchment area not just to Kiev but to other regional cities as inhabitants include a visit to the fashion outlet as part of their trip to Kiev to do their seasonal family clothes shopping.”