Adelsheim/Bad Münstereifel. Success is the result of making the right decisions. Many of them were made in August 2014 when the City Outlet in Bad Münstereifel opened its doors. Before Covid-19, around 2.5 million visitors visited the bargain paradise nestled in this medieval gem with its historic town centre. But the ever-increasing popularity among customers and the company's own striving for further development made it necessary to take an important step forward. The success story of the outlet with its total area of over 10,000 square metres is being continued: After lovingly restored existing buildings have been added again and again over the course of time, the only inner-city outlet in Europe is now expanding once again. The increased demand for retail space will be met in the coming year by an expansion from currently around 40 to approximately 46. "We are further expanding the offer in the premium segment by a total of 1,000 to 1,400 square metres so that we can offer our visitors even more variety. With this measure on several buildings, we are adding four to six international top brands to our portfolio," explains Marc Brucherseifer, who, along with Harry Ley, is one of the two managing directors of City Outlet Bad Münstereifel GmbH.
From the opening onwards, the professional and sustainable letting of all newly added spaces is once again the responsibility of HASLINGER RETAIL REAL ESTATE CONSULTING. And the specialists from Adelsheim in Baden-Württemberg are already in negotiations with potential tenants - which are already proving to be thoroughly positive at this early stage. Three points in particular play into the consulting company's hands. On the one hand, there is the outlet's inner-city location, which uniquely combines a growing form of retail with the ambience of a romantic town over 1,000 years old. On the other hand, a renowned study recently confirmed the outstanding position of the City Outlet in Bad Münstereifel. In the outlet ranking in the 10,000 to 15,000 square metre category, it climbed to second place within Germany, behind Wertheim Village. This is the conclusion of the OCPRE - Outlet Center Performance Report Europe 2020, which was presented by the research institutes ecostra GmbH from Germany and magdus from France on 22 February 2021 for the 13th time. The report is based on a Europe-wide survey of international brand manufacturers on the economic performance of the individual stores they operate in the various outlet centres. Of the 176 outlets surveyed in Europe, the one in Bad Münstereifel came in 37th. This means that it improved by almost 50 per cent compared to the previous year's rank of 75.
"The positive development of the City Outlet Bad Münstereifel is also absolutely remarkable from our point of view," Dr. Joachim Will also agrees, and the ecostra managing director explains: "This is especially true since we were still sceptical at the beginning whether such an inner-city outlet concept could work. I am all the more pleased with the success. Also, because it has made possible the revitalisation of a historic old town with attractive uses for customers. That is a very special achievement."
According to Michael Haslinger, there is an important third aspect that keeps the enquiries for vacant rental space coming in: After the lockdown in April 2020, outlet centres are among the very few winners in retail. This is also clearly shown by the turnover figures available so far. "Outlets are so popular with brand manufacturers at the moment that there are bottlenecks in leasing," Haslinger knows. With his team, he is responsible for renting out more than 14 outlets in five countries. Therefore, he knows his way around both worlds and knows the reasons for the rush. "The latest top position in the German ranking for the City Outlet in Bad Münstereifel underlines our successful orientation towards a demanding public. The independently compiled report also attests to a high level of trust among our brands, as the competence, experience and performance of the centre operators are also important success factors for the evaluation," says Michael Haslinger, pleased with the good assessment of his work, which is also reflected in the report.
