Call for the opening of shopping centers

Organizations representing owners and managers of commercial real estate and tenants are calling for the full opening of shopping centers no later than Monday, November 30, under conditions of high sanitary regime, the organizations wrote in a joint appeal to the government. According to them, the extension of trade restrictions will lead to the bankruptcy of many companies and the loss of thousands of jobs.

“Limiting trade only in November alone means a turnover loss for the industry in the amount of about PLN 8 billion. Extending the lockdown for December is another even 12 billion lost turnover. Such a loss will not be borne by many companies, not only trade, but also service companies related to the industry “- it was written.

As reported, during the first lockdown, the shopping center industry in Poland in months March-May 2020 recorded a decrease in net turnover by over PLN 17.5 billion.

Call for the opening of shopping centers

“At the same time, both landlords and tenants prepared for the expected second wave of infections and for conducting operations in a high sanitary regime. A number of investments were made in safety measures (regular disinfection of places touched by people, gloves or dispensers with disinfectant and free masks for customers) , continuous monitoring of footfall is carried out and it is possible to limit the number of people staying in commercial facilities on an ongoing basis, as well as enforcing customer behavior in accordance with regulations and recommendations“- napisano.

The data collected by PRCH show that the scale of infections among shopping center employees has not exceeded 1 per mille since May. No cases of virus transmission to colleagues and customers have been reported.

The industry indicates that since the return to operation of shopping centers on May 4, the next weekly footfall figures were below last year’s levels, and in October, along with the increase in infections, there were significant drops in footfall to 50-60% pre-pandemic (depending on city size, facility size and shop category).

As industry representatives argue, customers visit galleries less frequently, but for very specific consumer purposes, quickly fulfilling their needs. In times of a pandemic, shopping is also made by individuals, not entire families or groups of young people.

Summing up, in their opinion, the extension of trade restrictions in the pre-holiday season, which is the most important for trade, will lead to the bankruptcy of many companies and the loss of thousands of jobs.

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