Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/58695
WORLD AT A GLANCE Latin America led the world in retail growth last year, selling $953.78 billion worth of merchandise, up an inflation-adjusted 4 percent from 2010, according to Euromonitor International. Retail spending per capita was $1,700, on average, nearly double the $900 per capita reported in the Asia- Pacific, but considerably below the $2,300 per capita of Eastern Europe. In the developed countries, the average was about $6,000 per capita. U.K. REIT Hammerson will sell its office portfolio — six complexes in London valued at £500 million (nearly $800 million). The firm says it will reinvest the proceeds in retail assets, including its Brent Cross shopping center. Offices make up about 10 percent of the £5.7 billion portfolio. Plans are for the In Hungary ECE seeks to build a 140,000-square-meter mall (about 1.5 million square feet), in Budapest. The mall, to be named after the ancient Roman city of Aquincum, must first obtain a waiver from the three-year moratorium on retail projects larger than 300 square meters that the government instituted in January. Simon Property Group formed a venture to develop its first outlet center in China, in Pudong, near the Shanghai Disney Resort. Simon Property's agreement with Bailian Group, China's largest retail conglomerate, includes opportunities to develop additional outlet centers throughout the country. Bailian operates some malls and about 6,000 stores in China, including department stores and supermarkets. Portuguese mall development firm Sonae Sierra has entered Algeria through a joint venture with Cevital, an Algerian conglomerate of hypermarkets and construction and other businesses. Some 60 percent of Algeria's 36 million people are younger than 30, and gross leasable space there is about 5 square meters (about 54 square feet) per capita, versus 226 square meters in the European Union. 12 SCT / APRIL 2012 Ivanhoé Cambridge plans to invest $304.5 million in Brazil through a joint venture with local developer Ancar. The funds will be used to build, buy and expand shopping centers in Brazil. The Ivanhoé Ancar venture, formed in 2006, currently owns 10 Brazilian shopping centers. The number of malls in Turkey is expected to approach 350 by 2014, according to published reports. The country's total at present is 265. About 40 malls are slated to open there this year, and roughly 30 next year. The number of mall visits per month in Turkey rose last year to about 108 million, on average, up from 83 million per month the year before. Bharti Walmart says it plans to open about a dozen wholesale stores in India this year, beyond its current 17. Demand for food and for consumer goods is high, according to CEO Raj Jain, who says the new stores will create some 5,000 jobs. SCT