60 percent of shopping center tenants have shorter working hours

A survey conducted by the consulting firm ecostra revealed that more than half of the trading, catering and service companies that rent their premises in local shopping centers would like shorter working hours due to staff shortages and higher costs. In shopping centers, some of which are open until 9 pm, businesses are required to work. This means that they cannot determine the working hours individually.

In response to the evolution of cost, many tenants surveyed have renegotiated their lease contracts, and a quarter have been able to achieve long-term reductions in rent levels from landlords. A total of 73 companies with a total of 1,620 stores in Austrian shopping centers and retail complexes participated in the survey.

Inner cities are becoming more attractive again

Corporate expansionary activity lost momentum again. “After expansion activity picked up a little bit again last year after the coronavirus pandemic largely ended, that momentum has clearly faded again,” Equestra wrote, according to a press release. On average, each surveyed store chain plans to open about 3.3 more branches in the next 12 months (about 3.8 in 2022). At the same time, non-productive sites will be abandoned, with an average of about 1.9 branches set to close (2022 about 1.4 branches).

The survey shows that inner cities, which have been rejected for many years, are becoming the focus of expanding companies, while the “new field” is losing interest. 37 percent of the chain stores surveyed are somewhat interested in malls in such peripheral locations, while about 71 percent show similar interest in inner-city shopping streets.