The EXIT 66 Category
Regional Commercial Retail
The Developer intends to build up a network of regional shopping centres bearing the name “EXIT”, and the first centre should be implemented in the Czech Republic. Other locations preferred will be situated in the countries of Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Russia and some of the Baltic states. Exit 66 will be regional shopping centre magnet that is best described as “Factory Outlet Centre” due to it’s objective of grouping of a large number of brand-name manufacturers’ outlets at the same location, where each manufacturer rents its own separate retail unit, an outlet store, offering its own products directly to consumers at reduced prices. It is expected that this retail structure will be supplemented by additional retailers, such as off-price retailers, licensed dealers, resellers, catering establishments and recreational facilities.
The EXIT 66 Strategy
In contrast to a traditional shopping centre, which is an agglomeration of retail companies and miscellaneous service companies offering products for short-term, medium-term and long-term consumption, the Exit 66 factory-outlet-centre will be primarily an association of manufacturers of brand-name products in the categories clothing, shoes, leather goods and household goods, including glass and chinaware. Consistent with existing European outlet malls Exit 66 will feature a wide variety of products. The main differences will be in the size of the mall, the quality of products offered, its architecture and social standing. Exit 66 operates on the principle of a unique selling proposition and concentrates on high-quality goods, renting property primarily to top designer labels. Hence, the centre will be purpose-built, located on the D1 motorway offering superior road access and a congenial atmosphere for shopping. Exit 66 is designed to reflect the quality and corporate identity of the individual company.
Product Selection Policy and Categories
Exit 66 will offer a wide range of high-quality brand-name goods in a concentrated space. Partly to avoid conflict with the specialist retail trade, it is expected that retail tenants of Exit 66 will primarily distribute articles from production surpluses, Out-of-date and returned goods, seconds, discontinued/last season’s stock and remainders of special collections and sample collections.
Distribution through outlet malls also allows the flow of goods to be optimized and provides an opportunity to have more direct contact with the customer. By selling this merchandise directly, the manufacturers are able to exercise direct control over their image and thus the value of their brands. The product assortment will be heavily concentrated on “personal” consumer goods with clothing likely to account for approximately half of the product range.
The EXIT 66 Tenant Mix
As for the tenant mix of Exit 66, it is expected that there will be demand from both the local and international retailers, both currently active operators in the Czech market and the newcomers.
The majority of the international operators active in the Czech market have their stores also in the other Central European markets. This typically allows the critical number of stores to run a factory outlet unit. This is relevant mainly for the more exclusive brands.
It is likely that there will be a strong interest also from retailers that have not been active in the Czech market to date. Such retailers might use their factory outlet unit in the Czech Republic to trade off their recent product collections.
The developer, as a local operator in the Czech Republic, will strive to prove its good track record that it feels is essentially important in marketing the project to the western retailers.
Exit 66 will clearly define the range of products stocked by store units. Hence, the mix of tenants and product categories will be defined, to determine what products the outlets should offer, and should be in a position to offer within the adopted product assortment policy guidelines.
In general the type of products can be defined in the context of the philosophy of Exit 66s’ outlet mall concept include: season’s merchandise, discontinued items, products from surplus production etc.