STOP SHOP is moving beyond the traditional big-box, quick-shopping retail park format towards becoming an all-day family destination, says Vladimir Perovic at CPI Group.
As Serbia’s largest retail park network, with more than 15 locations across the country, STOP SHOP offers a unique insight into the latest retail park trends.
The company is currently reshaping its tenant mix, with a growing focus on entertainment, family-oriented concepts and gastronomy.
We spoke with Vladimir Perovic, STOP SHOP Senior Leasing Manager, to find out what is driving these changes and what they mean for the future of the retail park format.
Consumer Behavior
1. How has consumer behavior changed in recent years, and why do retail parks need to evolve?
Consumer behavior has changed significantly.
The way people live today is very different from how they lived just ten years ago, let alone before that. This shift has been driven by many factors, from advances in technology to broader changes in people’s habits, attitudes, and expectations.
Because we are living in such a rapidly changing environment, we all have to keep up with the latest consumer trends.
Tenant Mix
2. What recent changes have you made to the tenant mix at STOP SHOP, and why have you chosen these particular concepts?
As people’s lifestyles and shopping habits have evolved, retail parks have had to evolve with them.
We are seeing retail parks across the region introduce new concepts that are much more focused on enhancing the customer experience. For instance, at STOP SHOP, we have introduced more entertainment and family-oriented concepts, along with a number of new F&B operators to add greater variety to our tenant mix.
We are also seeing this trend among our tenants, who are also adapting their own stores. Many brands are now asking for additional space to expand their units and introduce new concepts that enhance the customer experience.
For us as an investor, this means we need to closely monitor these new developments, support our tenants, and adapt our offering accordingly.
Performance
How does introducing entertainment and a stronger F&B offer affect the performance and attractiveness of the retail units around them?
The impact is significant.
Entertainment and F&B complement the existing retail offer and create benefits across the entire retail park. We are seeing higher footfall, stronger tenant performance and increased turnover, while also building greater brand awareness.
Ultimately, this contributes to the overall value of our assets.
Community Building
You also want STOP SHOP to play a greater role as a local community hub. How are you approaching this beyond changes to the tenant mix?
Our community-focused marketing approach is tailored to each location.
We actively communicate what is happening at our retail parks, while also collecting and analysing customer feedback.
When an initiative receives a positive response, we build on that success and use what we have learned to develop new community initiatives.
What Comes Next
Will this model be rolled out across other STOP SHOP locations in Serbia, and what further changes can we expect?
When something works well at one STOP SHOP, we look at how it can be successfully adapted across our other locations.
Going forward, we will continue to follow the market closely, listen to our customers, and identify emerging trends and changing habits.
Our aim is to anticipate these changes early and be among the first to introduce new concepts to the market.
