Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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and about 70,000 people work within a 15-minute drive. Arena City will also contain a 400-room hotel being devel- oped by the Nordic Choice hotels chain. The Quality Hotel Arena, slated to open later this year, will be among the tallest hotels in Stockholm, stretching some 90 meters (about 300 feet) high. Within central Stockholm, AMF Fastigheter, a subsidiary of pension fund company AMF, is concentrating on in-fill and redevelopment projects, including Mood Stockholm. "In Sweden most of the new complexes in the retail sector have been the same — we tried to do something different," said AMF Fastigheter CEO Mats Hederos, who describes the concept as a cross between New York City's tony Fifth Avenue and its eclectic meatpacking district. Mea- suring some 10,400 square meters, the center is divided into three retail zones and has a concierge service. One of the zones clusters retailers selling moderately priced goods. The second is dedicated to retailers carrying higher-end brands, and the third focuses on luxury goods. AMF Fastigheter has persuaded three renowned Swedish chefs to open restaurants at the center and brought in several international fashion chains new to the market, including Napapijri and Scotch & Soda, and Scandinavian retailers such as Best of Brands. Best of Brands will in fact be opening two stores at the center to anchor each end of the property. "We tried to avoid the well- known chains, such as H&M;," Hederos said. The company, looking for Mood Stockholm to revitalize an area that has had little evening foot traffic, has acquired several nearby office buildings and is planning to put retailers and res- taurants on the ground floors. The area was designed with cars rather than pedestrians in mind, Hede- ros says. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many parts of Stockholm were demolished to make way for modern office buildings and automobile traffic, 184 SCT / MAY 2012 which ultimately sapped vitality from certain areas, he says. "The lower floors of many buildings are dull and uninter- esting to people walking around in the city," said Hederos. "We have to make them interesting by putting in restau- rants and retail. Otherwise, nobody will want to walk there." Steen & Strøm, jointly owned by French shopping center company Klépi- erre and Dutch pension fund ABP, is developing a 93,000-square-meter mall in Malmö, the third-larg- est city. Malmö is in the south, in the fast-growing Öresund region, an eco- nomic hub of Scandinavia that encompasses Copen- hagen, Denmark. The mall, called Emporia, will be among the largest in Sweden when it opens in October, containing some 200 shops, restaurants and cafés. 700 sf SF 600 500 In a mature retail real estate market, Steen & Strøm and others are seeking to distinguish their projects by pouring money into architectural design, adding amenities and services, and wooing retailers new to Sweden or to parts of it. Emporia will contain six themed courts and a rooftop park, and its amenities will include comfortable lounges, free wireless Internet service, a babysitting service and va- let parking. Foreign retailers have typically had difficulty es- tablishing a presence in Sweden as a result of low vacancy rates at leading shopping centers. They have also faced tough com- 400 petition from the dozen or so chains that dominate the market. "If you wanted to establish a lot of shops at the same time, it has been tricky," said Lars- son. "It is also a tough market in that you have to compete with really good local retailers." But more can be expected to take the plunge nevertheless, as malls continue to open. SCT European shopping center ratios GLA PER 1,000 POPULATION 300 200 100 0 Norway Sweden Ireland Netherlands Austria Finland Denmark Portugal United Kingdom France EU- 27 average Spain Italy Switzerland Poland Germany Greece Bosnia/ Herzegovina. SOURCE: CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD–-SWEDEN