BestLunch in Moscow
The official partner is MLP management company, the legal partner is Duvernoix Legal, an additional partner is Avantel, and the information partner is Retail.ru.
The discussion was moderated by Stanislav Stupnikov, the Head of Retail Real Estate for Best Group Commercial Real Estate, and Maria Karamysheva, the Director of Development for the Kidburg Network.
According to data on the current state of Russia's commercial real estate and retail market, as reported in a review by Best Group, an increase in the volume of retail sales was observed in the first quarter of the current year: 7.05 trillion rubles, which is 2.2% more compared with the same period in 2017.
The leader in trade turnover per capita at a rate of 1,000 rubles per person per year was Moscow (363), with the Sakhalin Region (290) in second place, and the Moscow region (281) in third place. Among the outliers were: Sakha (Yakutia) – 221, Tatarstan – 217, and the Murmansk region – 216.
The ratio between foodstuffs and nonfoods was 48% and 52%, respectively. This proportion has practically not changed at all compared to last year, and therefore, as recognized by BestLunch participants, there is little point in discussing any type of trend.
In terms of demand, sales of cars and by-products (spare parts, fuel) were especially distinguished. Also, consumer interest in household appliances/electronics and furniture has significantly increased. According to experts, this may be a result of the availability of loans to the population, since real income is essentially not growing.
It was noted that beginning in 2014, the dynamics of opening commercial facilities overall in Russia is negative, and the situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.
Many companies, seeing that Moscow and St. Petersburg do not offer much space for development, are turning their gaze to the regions.
In this context, logistics was also discussed as an important aspect of programs for network development. Gleb Belavin, Director General for Tenant Relations for the management company MLP, said that the company now has projects in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev. However, added the top-manager, expanding to the regions has not been excluded, and it is a possibility in the near-term perspective.
In a discussion of the food industry, everyone agreed that the F&B segment is essentially the main anchor in most modern shopping centers. According to Ernesto González, Vice-President of ROSINTER RESTORANTS, the trend for food in Russia is "serious and long-term." Of especially great potential is eating out: compared to Europeans and Americans, Russians do not spend much money on restaurants and cafes, but this figure is gradually increasing. Anastasia Tatulova, owner of the Anderson family café chain, drew attention to the fact that classic conceptualizations will no longer work. "Where there is simply food, there is no deafening growth. There needs to be recreation services, collaborations, and unions of these formats," she insists.
BestLunch participants concluded that the markets for commercial real estate and retail are evolving and developing, and although it is difficult to maintain the given pace and still manage to respond to changes on time, being the "engine" of this process is interesting, and an honor. The final message was delivered by Georgy Rykov, Director General of Best Group, joking that he hoped that all the sharks of business are "never eaten by other sharks."