INGKA Centres, the sister real estate business to IKEA, is in Cannes meeting partners and brands as it expands its shopping centre business predominantly in Europe, but also in China and India.
Vasco Santos, global sales and leasing director, Ingka Centres, told MAPIC News: ‘We are a unique development in the sense that we are present from San Francisco to Shanghai, with this beautiful project in India, with an established and growing portfolio in Europe.”
Ingka’s Vasco Santos
In terms of customer trends in European markets there is focus on affordability, he said. “People have been living with some constraints with their budget so they try to find those that deliver value for money, and we are a company that are there for the many people, that’s our vision. So, of course, we are trying to address those needs, but it’s more than that. People want to spend their time in a meaningful way. And that’s where all our focus in the past years has been. On what it is that communities need.”
For Ingka, Santos said, that is not just about putting together relevant partners, but providing different layers of the experience.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of event experiences, all kinds of entertainment initiatives, and we look at how to bring more value to the communities, with something that might not be material. But now also supports their lives every day. And this focus on community is at the same time delivering good business for our partners,” he said.
“That’s the intersection that we’ve been trying to create and I think we’ve been rather successful looking at the figures in terms of performance, and the footfall now we have recovered from COVID. Now our partners are happy with the business they have.”
Santos stressed Ingka’s continuing belief in physical retail and a belief that that is how you create bonds with communities – providing a platform where brands can connect with customers.
“We are also putting our skin in the game, in the sense that we’ve been developing and co-creating our own concepts, being ourselves part of that journey, not just being the platform as such but also to come up with new solutions,” he said. Initiatives such as flexible co-working spaces demonstrates Ingka’s desire to develop and co-create with partners, he added.
