What retailers have learnt from the crisis

In 2007 and 2008, fashion retail’s booming period, retailers used to go to malls as they would to Mecca. Asked why, the answer used to come promptly, unhesitatingly: the constant traffic and the tenant mix. Helped by banking loans, storeowners used to announce a new opening almost on a monthly basis. When the financial crisis significantly eroded Romanians’ shopping budgets, negotiations between malls and retailers started being held on a different tone. “(…) Now, retailers’ attitude is tougher, and developers are trying to get as much as they can, but they’re also open to negotiations and compromises,” says Adrian Cazu, store manager with Benvenuti footwear producer. The first compromise had to do with lower rents. Whereas older contracts could not be modified, negotiations for new launches set new conditions on paper: lower rents, space delivery conditions and the clause of exiting the mall with a three-month notice. Mall owners characterise the new relationships as “much closer ties with retailers and “ongoing communication”.