OREANDA-NEWS  In the next few years, about ten percent of shopping malls in Russia may close. This is reported by Izvestia with reference to the forecast of market participants.

Kirill Agapov, Managing Partner of Umbrella Consulting Group, a commercial real estate consulting company, expects that a total of 150-200 such retail facilities will cease to operate in the country by the end of next year. Others will face a profile change, the expert believes.

The Russian Union of Shopping Centers (RSTC) agreed with his assessment. Analysts of the industry organization called such a development of events in the domestic market quite likely. Shopping malls will not disappear completely, Agapov clarifies. However, many facilities will be waiting for a change in the composition of tenants, a reduction in retail space and the emergence of catering, entertainment, fitness, services, offices or medicine.

By changing the format, shopping malls will be able to adapt to the rapidly changing realities of the domestic market, the analyst notes. The former model of the shopping center, based on the concentration of stores and the creation of a maximum customer flow, has now virtually disappeared. The reason was, among other things, the transition of a significant part of the population to a savings model of behavior, coupled with the massive departure of Western brands and the activation of online commerce (primarily marketplaces), where prices are significantly lower due to discounts and loyalty programs.