In the Czech Republic, there are 250 shopping centers, with dozens more to come

Prague - In the Czech Republic, more than 250 shopping centers of various sizes are already in operation, and dozens more are set to emerge. This year alone, 12 new shopping complexes are expected to open in the Czech Republic, which is double the number compared to last year. This is according to a survey by Incoma Research and GfK Prague.
František Diviš from Incoma Research informed ČTK today that each of the ten largest operational shopping centers boasts more than a hundred tenants. Additionally, another four dozen large shopping complexes have more than 50 operators.
Among the already functioning shopping centers, clothing stores represent the most numerous category, with 1,582 at the end of last year. The second largest category is shoe and leather goods stores (488), followed by jewelry and gift shops (450 stores). "Fashion is the main driving force behind expansion," noted Diviš.
However, hypermarkets and DIY stores have the largest share of sales area in domestic shopping centers. "An increasingly significant percentage of establishments located in shopping centers consists of gastronomy and especially services," Diviš pointed out.
The expansion of shopping centers will continue in the Czech Republic. For example, the Austrian company Immoeast plans to operate several dozen smaller Stop Shop shopping centers near existing hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discount stores. "We want to build retail parks in towns with at least 15,000 inhabitants," said the manager of Stop.Shop, Georg Dobler.
The area of Stop Shop retail parks with several stores is expected to range from 3,500 to 7,000 square meters. For instance, the Chodov shopping center in Prague, which is among the largest in the country, has an area of 55,000 square meters. The construction of the first Stop Shop center began last year near Uherské Hradiště, and according to Dobler, the next locations will include Hranice, Příbram, Rakovník, Žatec, Krnov, and Ústí nad Orlicí.
Some shopping centers are already struggling with a low number of visitors due to increasing competition, poor location, or composition of stores. According to Tomáš Drtina from Incoma Research, it will play an important role whether less successful centers have a long-term investor who will support the project and try to make the store offering more attractive. Otherwise, there is a risk that some of the less-visited shopping centers could eventually become storage facilities, car dealerships, or office complexes.