Posted by: James Brown
Head of EMEA Retail Research
Jones Lang LaSalle EMEA Research

The challenges of our outbound journey from the UK yesterday are a distant memory after good food, wine, a good night’s sleep and a busy day at the conference.

Despite the appeal of the flawless blue sky and the mild weather outside, there was plenty of footfall inside the Palais. This year there are circa 7,000 delegates, about 10% up on last year. 2,000 of these are retailers‬‪. Overall numbers may have dwindled compared to the pre-crash world, but the broad intention of attendees is clear – to get back to business.

Core western European markets are still on the radars of expanding retailers, but so too are other emerging markets with good fundamentals and growth prospects, such as Poland, Russia and Turkey. Even those markets with a challenging economic outlook provide some great opportunities for retailers looking to expand or looking for new markets. The focus is still however on prime locations, which is also reflected in the investment market. Opportunities exist, albeit the landscape has changed.

How we adapt in this change post crisis market will be debated tomorrow morning at the Jones Lang LaSalle facilitated Retail 2020 Panel debate entitled, ‘Winning in the face of change’ (Palais, Auditorium K, Level 4). Jones Lang LaSalle colleagues will be joined on a panel by senior representatives from Abercrombie & Fitch, Corio, Footlocker, ECE and SES. Tomorrow’s panel discussion will provide an interesting insight into retailer, investor and developers responses to the changing retail landscape.

All in all it has been a very productive day and a good start to MAPIC 2010.