FHOC dusts off its doorstep

"After all phases in our outlets are completed, the Outlet Company will have 70,000 sqm of retail space in all its outlets in Poland," said the president of the Outlet Company, Tom Dootson. He said the value of the Outlet Company's total investment in Poland is EUR 100 (zł.399.5) million.

The first investment by The Outlet Company in Poland in Sosnowiec was launched in February  2004. Works on the second phase have just started and after they are completed the total space will reach 22,500 sqm. The space completed within the first phase is already fully leased. The company has also marked its presence in the north by opening an outlet in Gdańsk in October. Some 65 percent of the space is already leased and in total all FHOCs will employ 1,200 people.

The Outlet Company has another outlet expander hot on its heels. Neinver Polska is speeding up its investments in Poland. The Spanish developer decided to add 4,300 sqm to its first outlet in Warsaw's Ursus.  Neinver's general director, Barbara Topolska, said that it was the success of the first phase of Factory Ursus that influenced the decision to expand. Some two million shoppers visited the branch last year. The number grows by 10 percent every year, which also translated into the tenants' turnover. "Last year it was 400 (zł.1,599) per sqm in a month," said Topolska.

Neinver has also decided to locate in other Polish regions. The cornerstone was laid on the construction site of an outlet centre in Wrocław. The investment is scheduled for completion in spring 2006. The investment cost some EUR 20 (zł.79.9) million. Topolska said that 50 percent of the retail space has already been leased. Ultimately, the outlet will have a retail space of 13,500 sqm.

For its future investments, Neinver has also bought a 4.8 -hectare plot near Poznań, where it will invest EUR 23 (zł.91.8) million in a 15,200 sqm Factory Outlet. The project is scheduled for completion in Autumn 2006. Spring 2007 will see the opening of a Factory Outlet in Kraków. Launched at a cost of EUR 28.7 (zł.114.6) million it will offer 10,500 sqm of retail space. After Neinver completes all its investments in the next two years, the total retail area of its outlet centers will reach 43,000 sqm. The total value of Neinver's investment will amount to EUR 80 (zł.319.7) million.

"There is space for two big outlet centers in the capital - I think they will be cooperating and not competing with each other," said Topolska. She says that in two years' time, Neinver will have a 60-percent share in the market, against The Outlet Company's 40 percent.

Agnieszka Barteczko