MAPIC: by invitation

Investor networking session to focus on post-pandemic future

A NETWORKING breakfast takes place at the Salon des Ambassadeurs, Cannes on Wednesday, December 1, connecting investors and developers. One of the key questions at the invitation-only event will be about how the market is valued and how prospects for the European retail real estate market are shaping up. “Are we at the bottom of the cycle? I am not sure,” says Eric Decouvelaere, head of retail EMEA at CBRE Investment Management, which has a €15.2bn retail platform in EMEA, including shopping centres, on the high street and in retail parks. “There are too many uncertainties. What we can say is that there is still to be a post-pandemic clean-up.” Decouvelaere believes retailers need to think of their stores as combined selling, brand, media and logistics [click & collect] sites: “As real estate operators, we need to become a platform for this and not just by saying these things –— we need to walk the talk,” he insists. “It’s about B2B, B2C and also C2C, because we know that social media can make somewhere fly or die in a flat minute. And sustainability is also crucial; we have to be part of our community and contribute to our location.” While deals have been slow this year, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), a lender to the Tra ord Centre since 2017, took ownership of the out-oftown Manchester mall following unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer after owner Intu entered administration. Geo Souter, managing director and head of real assets credit at CPPIB Credit, says: “While conditions for retail in 2020 have been very challenging, we are able to take a long-term view and believe that, with strategic management and investment, the Tra ord Centre has strong prospects.” 

CPP Investments has taken ownership of Manchester’s Tra ord Centre

Franchising is fuelling F&B expansion

AN INVITATION-only networking lunch — the Multi-unit and Master Franchise Summit — takes place at the Salon des Ambassadeurs, in the Palais des Festivals, on Wednesday, December 1, showcasing retailers, restaurant chains and leisure operators. With franchising o ering a cost-e ective way for retailers, F&B and leisure operators to expand into new markets, a participant in the Summit, Thomas Rose, co-founder of P-Three, has pointed to a few of the names to watch in the F&B sector. Joe & The Juice has been expanding outside its native Denmark for a number of years, Rose says. And “with an increasing consumer focus on wellness, its fresh juices are going to continue to be in demand and we see further expansion across Europe”. In the UK, Spain, France and Germany, Five Guys has operated a JV model — and a franchise basis in other markets, “with drive-thru to follow in France and the UK”. Carls Jnr, another large US brand with 79 restaurants in Europe across France, Spain, Denmark, Russia and Turkey, opened seven new sites in 2020, and is planning at least 20 new sites across Europe over the next 18 months, again using franchise partners to drive expansion. 