The highest supply in three years and 40 percent of this year’s new openings in cities below 100,000 inhabitants – EuropaProperty

Cushman & Wakefield has published another edition of its MarketBeat report on the Polish retail market. More than 180,000 sqm of retail space was added to the market in H1 2018 and another 330,000 sqm is expected to be completed by year-end 2018. This will represent an increase of over 25 percent year-on-year (yoy), bringing Poland’s total retail stock to more than 14,800,000 sqm. The new supply will be concentrated in cities with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, accounting for 40 percent of this year’s openings.

More than 180,000 sqm of new retail space was added to the Polish market in H1 2018. Nearly 80 percent of that total was delivered through new openings and extensions of existing shopping centres. New and extended retail parks accounted for 15 percent of the new supply while retail space delivered through outlet centres made up approximately 6 percent of that volume.

The largest new retail completions include Forum Gdańsk (62,000 sqm) and Gemini Park Tychy (36,000 sqm). Other shopping centres delivered in H1 2018 are smaller retail schemes of less than 20,000 sqm: Rondo Wiatraczna in Warsaw (11,000 sqm), Galeria Piastova in Gniezno (9,500 sqm) and Galeria nad Potokiem in Radom (5,180 sqm).

This high supply of retail space is a response to demand largely driven by Poland’s rapid economic growth which hit 5.2 percent in Q1 2018, powered by household spending (up by 8.2 percent yoy) and steadily rising salaries (+7.3 percent yoy). The low unemployment rate standing at 5.9 percent at the end of June is another contributory factor. With such positive macroeconomic indicators, Poland is seeing an increase in retail developments and new brands enter the market such as Fissman, Dealz and Tedi. Poland is also being targeted by Primark.

Despite the healthy supply in the first six months, Poland’s vacancy rate edged down by 0.8 percent to 3.2 percent, which is another confirmation of the Polish retail market’s good health. This resulted, among other things, from OBI taking over the space vacated by Praktiker and fitness club operators swiftly moving into the premises vacated by Jatomi.