Istanbul: Mall Mania

 
With at least 13 m residents in an energetically youthful mix, fast-growing Istanbul is quickly becoming a retail and restaurant powerhouse. A huge concentration of over 70 Western-style shopping malls has not only attracted international foodservice franchises. Ambitious local entrepreneurs are also finding plenty of opportunities for outlet expansion and concept innovation.
 
Why has Turkey proved such fertile ground for big shopping centres? To an extent, they are a logical continuation of the country’s ancient bazaar traditions, of which Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar remains a world class example. Started in the mid 1400s, it is still one of the largest covered markets in the world, with over 58 covered streets and over 1,200 shops attracting up to 400,000 visitors daily – including many tourists – to its arrays of jewellery, pottery, carpets and spices. But malls on the Western pattern have come a lot closer to filling modern social needs since the first – Galeria Artakoy – opened in 1987, followed in the 1990s by Akmerkez and various super-centres anchored by big international operators like Carrefour and Migros. There are now reckoned to be 280 shopping centres with over 20,000 sq m sales area in Turkey, with just over 70 ocated in Istanbul. Despite the recession, development is continuing as vigorously as ever, with around 70 new malls currently thought to be at the planning or construction stages.
 
Andreas Hohlmann, general manager of ECE Turkiye, attributes continuing growth to demographics. He believes that, relative to its population, mall growth in Istanbul is nowhere near its full potential. “Officially, the city has 13 m population, which is 1.5 times that of entire countries like Greece,” he points out. Continuing growth potential is dramatic, both in the capital and in the country’s many cities with 1 m+ populations. “Turkey has a population of 70 m people, with 1 m people added every year, whereas Germany’s 80 m population is shrinking by 500,000 each year.”
 
Hohlmann cites research which suggests that the volume of retail area in relation to total population is only 20% of that found in Germany. Expectations are also different. "The average age here is 28 whereas in Germany it is 46. So Turkish people are more consumption-orientated and they like to take a fresh look at everything. Shopping centres in Germany can feel like retirement parks. Daily mall visitor figures of 30-35,000 are not unusual here but in Germany you would break every record with such numbers."
 

 
| 2 June 2010 |