Shopping center management market: A comparative analyses of Portugal, Netherlands and Poland

A key factor in making a shopping center a success, one that should be considered from the start of the development, is the management. The shopping center management is responsible for carrying out the concept of the shopping center and adjusting it, if necessary, to the needs of changing society. The internationalisation and strong shopping center growth across Europe increases the competitiveness in local markets between retail areas attracting consumers. This demands an integral approach to shopping center management to supply and ensure a high quality of the services. The difficulties of operating across the borders of the home market, are the differences between the countries on all levels. To make the research feasibility in the time allotted for the research, it is narrowed down to the countries Portugal, Poland and the Netherlands. The main research question is: 'Which adaptations should be made to the integral approach of shopping center management to make it applicable in Portugal, the Netherlands and Poland?' Theory: Generally, in shopping center, tenants are required to pay a monthly base rent and a percentage of turnover rent agreed upon by both parties. An increase of sales turnover will lead to improved rents, an incentive to the investor, and loyalty of retailers and consumers (ICSC, 1999 p.19). The investor is now more involved in the functioning of the shopping center and will therefore try to better all-round performance in the long run. The vertical integration in the real estate industry creates a synergy between the different businesses levels. The knowledge and the network of the developer is combined with the accessible capital of the investors who also brought a higher level of analysis and evaluation of shopping centers to optimise the resources and improve net operating income with shopping center management. Through globalisation the behaviour of consumers has become steadily more similar. This made it more attractive and easier for retailers to operate outside the borders of their home markets, which resulted in an increase of demand for modern retail space. Municipalities know retail has the ability to change places in desirable international locations for new businesses and are willing to supply land. These three components work as a catalyst in the process of the growing market of shopping centers. The role of shopping center management has become more critical as the competition in the retail market increases. Shopping centers need to control and maintain their position in the market. The integral approach of shopping center management tries to accomplice a competitive advantage with the services commercial, financial and marketing. The functional quality of a shopping center depends highly on desirability of tenant/merchandise mix. The commercial service assists tenants and adjusts the tenant/merchandise mix to serves the changing needs of the local consumers with the information provided by the analysis of the financial service. A flexible lease, in terms of 10-year for anchor tenants and 5-years for smaller tenants with no termination and no prolongation options for the tenants, will provide more options for the management to do this. A comprehensive marketing program is set up from the start of the development to create, maintain and extent the image, because an image is a critical determination of the way customers respond to center. The shopping center management and the tenants participate in a marketing program that promotes he individual stores as well as the shopping center as a whole. Sufficient budgets are needed to supply the integral approach to shopping center management for given periods of time.