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Lilit Adibekyan, Director of Real estate Management AVICA (the company's portfolio includes the "Seasons" and Dream House galleries), agrees: it is still incorrect to compare Moscow and St. Petersburg street retail with European. "For example, in Paris, the most luxurious street in the world, Avenue Montaigne, became popular due to the fact that in 1947, in order to attract wealthy visitors to the Plaza Athenee Hotel, a Dior boutique was opened on it," recalls Ms. Adibekyan. After that, Chanel, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana boutiques began to open in the street retail format. After the 1950s, there were only clothing stores and restaurants on the Champs-Elysees, then large companies began to open their offices, for example, the advertising agency Publicis, the transport company RER. In Russia, street retail has existed not so long ago, and the tourist flow here is much lower, which affects the development of this market segment: Russia is in ninth place in the world in terms of the number of tourists (about 30 million per year), while France is in the first (80 million), Italy – on the fifth (50 million). In addition, there are ground and underground parking in Europe, while, for example, parking is prohibited in principle in Moscow on Kutuzovsky or Leningradsky Avenues, which affects the availability of shops in the street retail format in these locations. The fact that Kutuzovsky Prospekt has not been the same for a long time, was said by all the interlocutors of MM: a large number of vacant premises remain here, and the vacancy rate is 13%. Over the past few years, such fashion operators as No One, ECCO and a number of others have left the street, and now the corridor is in very low demand among tenants of accessories, clothing and footwear stores.

According to Knight Frank estimates, by the end of 2016, the total volume of retail premises of pedestrian zones in Moscow amounted to 108.7 thousand m.², over the past year, the vacancy rate in this segment decreased from 7.3% to 6.2%, while the number of retail premises increased from 450 to 475. Clothing and shoe operators occupy the second place in terms of leased space (16% of the total), second only to catering (more than 50%). "In the medium term, we do not expect a massive return of clothing brands to the pedestrian streets of the capital, but it is obvious that some companies (associations of Russian designers, online boutiques, international luxury segment operators) have stopped avoiding the premises of the street retail format," shares Victoria Kamlyuk, Director of the street retail direction of Knight Frank. It is noteworthy that Kuznetsky Most Street, which is characterized by fairly high rotation rates, has become a kind of test corridor for flagship concepts: having won the loyalty of the audience and having developed a development strategy, operators often leave it. In the structure of pedestrian shopping corridors, the share of areas occupied by jewelry stores has also increased: for example, in 2016, the boutiques Harry Winston (Stoleshnikov Lane), the Moscow Jewelry Factory (Nikolskaya), Adamas (Arbat) were opened.

No bets placed

According to Oksana Kopylova, Deputy Director of the Market Research Department CBRE, the vast majority of new brands (44% of them belong to the fashion segment) continue to open in new shopping centers (since the beginning of 2016, 35 out of 41). The reason is the high availability of space. In total, in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, the first mono-brand stores in street retail opened six brands, four of which belong to the "clothing and footwear" segment. "Mass brands, as a rule, open only flagships on passing streets: ZARA, Nike on Kuznetsky Bridge, adidas Originals on Bolshaya Dmitrovka, United Colors of Benetton on Tverskaya and Krasnaya Presnya, H&M on Tverskaya (opening is scheduled for 2017), – reminds Anush Gasparyan. For them, street retail does not provide such traffic as shopping malls, where people come not only for shopping, but also for entertainment. It is much more profitable for clothing retailers to be there, since a good pool of neighbors gives not so much competition as an additional flow of customers. The flagship “on the street” works primarily on image, tourists and spontaneous purchases ».

In turn, interest in sports stimulated the active placement of flagship stores of sports brands on the central streets, Colliers International reports: a store "KM 20" was opened on Kuznetsky Bridge, where the collaboration of the sports brand PUMA and singer Rihanna, the flagship of adidas Originals, was first presented, and in March 2017, one was opened one of the largest flagship stores of the international brand Nike. Among the tenants who left the shopping streets and went to shopping malls, the company notes the stores of fashion operators HUGO BOSS on Kuznetsky Most, «Parade» on Petrovka.

It is significant that landlords in the street retail segment, according to the estimates of the interlocutors, continue to be the most conservative owners in the retail real estate market. Some continue to "stand to death" without reducing rates even for long-term empty premises, others are ready to consider the possibility of a discount only for the largest tenants. Avica estimates that street retail rates have decreased by an average of 15-20% over the year. CBRE retorts: since different locations within the same street have different pedestrian traffic in volume, the amount of rental rates requested also varies, and in some locations the rates may significantly exceed the street averages. For example, on Tverskaya, the average value of the requested rates is 75,000 rubles/m2/year, while in the Mayakovskaya metro area the rates reach 118,000 rubles/m2/year. The average rate on the Garden Ring is 70 thousand rubles/m2, while in some locations, especially near key metro stations, this figure is higher. "The situation on Leninsky Prospekt has significantly improved, the vacancy has decreased significantly here," says Victoria Kamlyuk. The reason is the deterioration of the parking situation in the CAO and in the city as a whole. The understudy on Leninsky gives motorists the opportunity to park and visit shops.

To be continued.

Author:Ekaterina Reutskaya

Photo: Shutterstock.com