(Unna, 11.12.2019) Just six months ago, a wave of business closures seemed to be sweeping through Unna’s shopping street. Almost half a dozen impending closures were announced within just one week. Yet six months later, there is no sign of declining appeal or loss of purchasing power. Reputable replacement tenants have been found for the stores, preventing vacancies.

“From my perspective, it is particularly encouraging that Unna has succeeded in attracting established retail chains and fashion brands to Bahnhofstraße as replacement tenants. That proves how attractive Unna’s prime 1A location is. This does not always work in many similarly sized towns. There, vacant stores, fast-food outlets and discount shops become part of the new townscape,” says Bert Pfeffer, who has specialised for more than 30 years in marketing retail stores in prime 1A locations at Brockhoff & Partner.

The planned closure of the P&C branch was still being described as a “major blow” in May. But it soon became clear that fashion retailer SINN would be a worthy successor, expected to offer its range across the entire former P&C space of around 3,000 m² from March 2020. “SINN is known for tailoring its range to each region. I therefore see a good chance that SINN will prove to be a strong anchor tenant and fashion magnet. Together with the ‘local favourite’, fashion store Schnückel, Müller drugstore in the middle of Bahnhofstraße and the planned Mühlencenter, customer footfall will continue to be distributed well along the shopping street. All retailers ultimately benefit,” says Bert Pfeffer.

It is therefore no surprise that chain retailers in Unna are even increasing their sales areas. In October, BROCKHOFF RETAIL brokered Ernsting’s family’s move from Bahnhofstraße 25 to a store of around 265 m² in the new building at Bahnhofstraße 11, which BROCKHOFF RETAIL had previously brokered to a regional investor.

The re-letting at Bahnhofstraße 25 also followed seamlessly. BROCKHOFF RETAIL secured gift retailer Nanu-Nana for the approximately 170 m² sales area, thereby preventing a vacancy.

A good mix of regional and national chains, large fashion retailers, local shops and restaurants is a key success factor for high-street retail in the 21st century. “Alongside well-known chains, regional retailers add variety and give people a reason to visit town-centre stores. This gives shopping streets a distinctive character and sets them apart from other towns with which they may be competing. This has worked very well in Unna in recent years,” says Pfeffer. The owner-operated shoe store Schreiber, which took over the former A&K Schuhe unit, and family business Brillen Rottler, now based in the former Gerry Weber premises, fit perfectly into this picture.