Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2011 | Page 47

Photo: YIT

The new Willa Shopping Center
in the core of Hyvinkää will be
completed in spring 2012.

Social Formula

t the same time, in the capital region the trend is not so much to build
new shopping centres but to expand
the old ones – at least for the time being.
Going against the mainstream, however,
is Vantaa which is entertaining the notion
of a super-sized shopping centre in Marja-Vantaa, the new green community close
to the airport.
In May 2010, the Vantaa City Board
issued a planning reservation for the Marja-Vantaa shopping centre which is developed by Ruokakesko Oy and Helsingin
Osuuskauppa Elanto. According to the original plans, the new shopping entity could
be as big as 300,000 square metres – three
times the size of Jumbo, presently Vantaa’s
biggest shopping paradise.
The Marja-Vantaa shopping centre
is to be located, in part, on top of the Hämeenlinna road and right next to the coming Kivistö Ring Rail Line station. The Ring
Rail Line will start operations in 2014, and
the shopping complex could open its doors
somewhat later.

A

Greener Shopping?
According to the initial plans, the would-be
shopping centre should mirror the values of
the surrounding area – namely, green ideology. The shopping centre should place a minimal strain on its environment with regards
to its use and upkeep and the construction
materials must reflect this as well. The City
of Vantaa insists that the shopping centre is
certified under LEED, Breeam or a comparative system. The zoning plan for the shopping centre is expected to be released for
public scrutiny by autumn 2011.
Further up the road in Hämeenlinna, a
similar project – if considerably smaller – is
supposed to commence in the spring. Here,
too, there is a deck over the motorway and
a shopping centre located on the deck (see
related story on p. 50).
Overall, shopping centres in Finland
seem to be in fine form after the recession.
For instance, the year 2009 was a challenging one in retail business, but shopping centers still performed well because of their natural strength factors. These include solid
concepts, good location and diverse services. The annual sales grew 4.3 % (totalling

€ 4.9 billion) and number of visitors grew
4.5 % during the year.
Despite the global economic downturn, the net yield rate of shopping centers
in 2009 remained at a good level (6 %).

Conquering Time

Tiuraniemi has visited in plenty of shopping
centres around the world, and expects to see
more stores that seek to “maximise the experience” in one way or another.
“If you succeed in engaging all the
senses, you can grab the customer into your
own world, in a way. In such an environment, the purchasing decision is easier to
make.”
Whenever somebody pulls out the
“experience economy” card, people tend to
think of young daredevils jumping out of airplanes and snowboarding down the Himalayas. Tiuraniemi points out that the experiences don’t have to be extreme in order to
engage the consumer.
“For instance, the senior citizens – the
so-called grey panthers – are likely to appreciate attentive service, getting the feeling that somebody is listening to their concerns and really trying to help. In such a scenario, it is not the product itself that makes
the difference but the pleasure one receives
from the social interaction.” b

Juha Tiuraniemi, Managing Director Finnish
Council of Shopping Centers, assesses that
shopping centres must evolve further in line
with the customers’ needs which rarely stay
the same. If the shopping centres succeed in
this task, they will be “the beating hearts” of
the communities, Tiuraniemi muses.
Still, there’s a lot to be done if the
shopping centres want to be successful in
the 2010s. Tiuraniemi recognises that there
is an intense race going on for the consumer’s money – and perhaps even more relevantly, his/her time.
“We are facing a
situation where customer groups are being broken into little pieces.
This fragmentation extends also to the consumer’s time,” Tiuraniemi says.
Nevertheless, Tiuraniemi believes that
shopping centres are in
good position to take
on this challenge. After all, shopping centres
have always been able
to adapt when times are
tough.
In the future, Tiuraniemi believes that
Data collection
we will see more pubInformation services
lic
sector
services
Opportunity analysis
packed into retail units.
Networking
This means that a store,
Entry alternatives
school and daycare
could all co-exist under
Location management
the same roof.
Setting up a business
“Bigger units make
sense, when you’re combining a number of customer needs with space
efficiency. The challenge is to build entities
that really work.”

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