Showcased for the first time at EuroShop 2008 will be the German Council of Shopping Centers (GCSC) together with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). “The theme of shopping centers is of tremendous significance to EuroShop today, especially as the boom in shopping center construction continues unabated in Germany and particularly in Eastern Europe and Asia,” emphasised Wilhelm Niedergöker, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf. “Which is why we are particularly delighted that both the national and international shopping center associations will be represented at EuroShop and active in its forum programme,” continued Niedergöker.

In the two discussion forums, which will be characterised by a high-calibre GCSC presence, to be held on the morning of 25 February 2008, key questions regarding inner-city shopping center development and especially the demands on contemporary retail landscapes will be considered under the banner “Shopping centers as the modern marketplaces”. Rüdiger Pleus, Secretary General of the German Council of Shopping Centers, pointed out that “In the time to 2009 alone, some one million square metres of new retail space will be built in 40 German city centers.” “This growth in large format retail real estate in the inner city is a renaissance in an age-old European tradition of trade in the cities,” explained Pleus.
The return of a vibrant marketplace experience in the form of retail property in the city is an exceptional opportunity for city centers. Against this backdrop, the ISCS will focus on international design trends as these illustrate what a modern and – above all – customer oriented retail landscape can look like.

“The noticeable growth and process of transformation in the cities is a natural market reaction that is unfolding to different degrees throughout Europe,” commented Wolfgang R. Bays Member of the ICSC Advisory Board and chairman of the GCSC. “As consumers, customers determine the dynamism of this development and thus also the sustainability of the currently identifiable trends which, taken as a whole and individually, influence and shape the future outlook of the German retail real estate landscape.”