Leisure and food will be major engines of new malls in the country

Sao Paulo-the difficulty in closing contracts with retailers of traditional retail, new shopping centers have sought alternatives. The tendency is to focus on the expansion of recreational facilities and food service, to circumvent the downslide in sales, which last year impacted negatively the administrators of malls.
For the Superintendent of the Brazilian Association of Shopping centres (Abrasce), Adriana Colloca, this is the new scenario in the industry, at least in the period in which the trade continue unaffected by the economic crisis in the country. "Certainly the new malls will have a bit of trouble at the start. But are long-term endeavors, the recovery will happen. What they can do in the beginning to help optimize the mix of stores and invest in the food court, which is a segment a little more resilient, "he says.
The Cantareira North Mall, in São Paulo (which opens its doors today in São Paulo) and the Shopping Nova Iguaçu, in the Baixada Fluminense (with opening scheduled for tomorrow), are two of those enterprises that admit focusing your strategies to attract consumers with food courts and major events.
The two segments were less corroded by the economic crisis compared with the retail, for example.
"Right now, we believe that events, leisure and entertainment attractions, besides the food, will be more attractive to be able to captivate the consumer in the region. Our bet is that in the short term, "says the cochair of Ancar Ivanhoe, Marcos Carvalho. The company is the administrator of the new Shopping Nova Iguaçu and controls projects in practically all regions of the country.
According to Castro, the 250 planned stores, about 188 will be opened in conjunction with the mall. Of the remainder, representing 25% of the total, a part is being terminated and another part in negotiation. "A next us hopes to have 100% of the stores in operation. However, we assess that the who will open can satisfy the consumer very relevant, "says Castro. The total investment in the venture was 400 million R$. The work was initiated at the end of 2013.
In the Cantareira North Mall, the vacancy at the opening of the enterprise will be larger, with almost 30% of the gross leasable area still without occupation of tenants. The food court and cinema, however, are ready to receive the client. "The stores are not open are still in process of construction, which is natural in any endeavor of this size," admits the Cantareira Superintendent North Mall, Geraldo Carvalho.
Demand within
The Police Group, which controls more than 20 shopping centers, mostly located in the inner cities, bet on demand of these locations to continue growing in the crisis.
Recently, the company launched two major malls in cities such as Juazeiro (BA) and Varginha (MG). "The strategy is based on new markets that have the potential to receive large enterprises, such as those built in these cities," says the Executive Manager of marketing and innovation of the Tenco, Maria Laura Guimarães.
According to her, the major cities are of these ventures, which guarantees to small cities are more advantageous in this respect. "The Juá Garden Mall, in Juazeiro, just completed a month and the Via Café Garden Mall, in Varginha, has just over 20 days of operation. There is a big demand in these areas, because there is no other malls in a radius of 90 km in places, "he says.
In the second half of this year, the company still must inaugurate the first Mall of Bragança Paulista (SP). In total, investments in three malls over 650 million R$. According to Abrasce, 28 malls will be opened in Brazil until the end of the year.