Mixing it up at MAPIC
As the days tick down to the major European retail property show, MAPIC, on the South coast of France in Cannes the key themes to be covered have been highlighted at a preview event in London.
This year’s exhibitors and speakers will again highlight the ongoing move away from old school retail involving simply flogging goods to a broader proposition. Whereas back in 2020 75% of the event was about traditional retail this has moved to closer to 50% this year, according to Francesco Pupillo, division director at MAPIC Markets, with the other 50% a mix of food & beverage, art & culture and other immersive activities.
This move has coincided with the shift away from pure shopping malls to urban regeneration, with developments that incorporate workplaces and residential. He cites Battersea Power Station in London and Potzdamer Platz in Berlin as good examples of the trend.
MAPIC 2024 will also represent the key underlying trends within retail, according to Catherine Stevenson, associate within EMEA cross-border retail & leisure at Cushman & Wakefield, who highlights four categories that are particularly exciting growth areas.
These comprise: sports, outdoor and footwear that is driven by the Olympics and a desire for healthier lifestyles; athleisure; new beauty areas such as skincare and personalisation; and East-Asian influenced retail that is incredibly colourful and proving a strong draw for younger consumers.
The latter encompasses global retailer Miniso that has a focus on pop culture and products from licensing deals undertaken with myriad characters including Hello Kitty, Spiderman and Donald Duck. Amir Mashkoor, CEO of UK at Miniso, says the plan has been to push these licensed products from 30% of sales to 80% and they currently sit at 50%.
It is certainly working well as there are 29 stores in the UK, located in high footfall locations, and high-growth expansion is on the cards. This is in-line with the overall group strategy that has seen the business grow to over 7,000 stores globally since it was founded in only 2013.
Miniso along with many hundreds of other retailers and leisure & hospitality businesses will be represented at MAPIC, which runs from November 26-28 in Cannes.
Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider