On June 15-16, Moscow hosted the first of a series of annual program of the Russian Council of Shopping Centers (RSTC) on reconception.

For two days, the participants discussed how shopping centers can successfully function in a competitive environment and changing market conditions.

At the conference «Everything you wanted to know about the reconstruction of the shopping center», which took place on the first day, the secrets of the correct update of the shopping center were revealed:The speakers presented specific cases of successful examples of reception. The goals and objectives of the reconstruction, the possibility of its implementation without rebranding, the stages of implementation, sources of funding, conceptual and technological aspects were discussed.

On the second day, a Working Workshop was held on the shopping center "Metropolis", which only a few months ago opened its second stage for visitors, which won the main award in the field of retail real estate RCSC Awards. The speakers told how the object was filled, how the marketing strategy was built, who built the second stage and much more.

The program was attended by guests from Moscow, Vladimir, Samara, Cheboksary, Vladivostok, Saratov, Vologda, Volgograd, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk, Tver, Kazan, Tyumen, Salekhard, Yekaterinburg, Penza.

Regional Director of the Strategic Consulting Department of Colliers International Vladislav Nikolaev:

«London Mall», which actually had huge problems with occupancy − only two tenants worked at full capacity, and everything else was either empty or not profitable − underwent a classic reconstruction. For Russia, this was the first example of a reconstruction in such a large-scale shopping center. The center had 70 thousand square meters of leasable area, was opened in 2006, previously called Felicita, which translates from Italian as "happiness", but unfortunately there was no happiness there.

 

Elena Solovieva, Marketing and Business Development Director, JLL Shopping Center Management Department:

"Most often, not all projects can afford large financial investments, and the issue of rebranding comes last and is not the key one. Although, in principle, everyone understands today that rebranding is not visualization, it is a matter of the philosophy of the shopping center. Over the past 3−4 years, we have done several such projects. Basically, these are shopping centers that are under our management, these are new generation facilities. The reconstruction most often looks like this: strategy development, its stages, smooth rotation without closing zones, updating the common zone and restyling of visual elements. This is what a realistic market approach looks like.

 

Marketing and Communications Director «Immoshan Russia» Sofia Shchukina:

"Positioning cannot exist in a vacuum, it is always based on what the consumer thinks about us or does not think about us. Then, based on our specialization, we turn it into something that can be expressed in one word. When you look at an iPhone, you tell yourself that this is not a phone, but, say, an innovation. In any case, all positioning comes down to one simple word. After all, it is directly related to how the human brain works. In a super-competitive environment, you need to fight for attention, you need to catch the moment when the brain has time for us.

 

Marketing Director of the shopping center "Metropolis" Moro Sandrine:

"In any country, when a shopping center increases, it becomes impossible to concentrate on one audience. It is necessary to strengthen your marketing presence, look for different marketing tools to attract different visitors.