Page 40 - April 2021

SPECIAL FEATURE: INTERNATIONAL OUTLETS

HEDE FASHION OUTLET
Gothenburg, Sweden
Developer: VIA OUTLETS

Road To Recovery

As some light appears at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, the outlet sector

is in a unique position to begin fighting back. Here, RLI turns to industry
experts to ask about their views on the subject and how they and their
companies have navigated through these unusual times.

OttO AmbAgtsheer, CeO – VIA Outlets
Without a doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic and the sell off surplus stock or adapt quickly to their own changing
measures implemented to contain it have been some of requirements. We have even helped our brands offer virtual
the biggest disruptors to the retail industry in our time. selling with home delivery or store pick-up, and developed
The outlet sector, which has traditionally seen much of a platform for customers to book shopping appointments
its growth generating from international tourism, has as imposed by some governments– we have continued
particularly felt the effects of travel restrictions and flight evolving and adapting to changing circumstances.
bans. At the same time, long periods of store closures have With vaccine programmes across Europe now picking up
caused retailers to look for reliable sources for offloading speed, we are (knock on wood!) hopefully nearing the end of
accumulated stock, setting our industry up for a significantly this crisis – and at VIA Outlets, we are feeling more confident
stronger bounce-back than full-price retail. And here we about the future. It is an established truth that outlets have
are, already a year into the crisis, we can see that outlets always performed better than full-price retail in difficult
have been one of few sectors that, alongside online, has economic times, and even from a simple health and safety
proved to be truly resilient. perspective, most outlets benefit from being open-air.
As a business, we believe that much of our resiliency Outlets also have a built-in leisure element, where a
results from our ability to be agile in a highly uncertain visit to an outlet is an experience in itself and often seen
environment. From quickly adapting to advice from WHO as a day out for the whole family, rather than merely a
and local governments to working with Bureau Veritas to transactional event. After long periods of lockdown, people
certify our portfolio as a ‘Safer Shopping’ destination; from will no doubt crave these real, human experiences.
reducing operating costs in closed centres to working Of course, any crisis will see winners and losers – and
closely with brand partners to offer additional or different this is not the time to lean back. Like any industry, ours,
space, such as pop-up shops in new centres to help them too, needs to innovate and reinvent itself in order to stay
40 retAIl & leIsure INterNAtIONAl APRIL 2021