About once or twice a year, ecostra publishes an expert letter in which, among other things, results and findings from daily work as well as on general trends and developments in the European retail markets are reported. The expert letter is published exclusively in German language. Registered users receive a download link by email immediately after publication.

If you would like to subscribe to the expert letter as well as other current information from ecostra, you can register via the form field at the bottom of this page.

Thank you for your interest!

Expert Letter October 2021
  • Do municipal retail trade concepts still make sense today? A plea for a paradigm shift
  • Ulm City Centre Dialogue 2030: Dialogue-oriented urban development in the face of the pandemic
  • GSPRD2020: Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse in Freiburg top, Limbecker Strasse in Essen flop!
  • New gif guideline: Quality criteria for retail concepts
  • Surprise in the new SCPROE: Messepark in Dornbirn again best shopping centre despite lack of Swiss customers
  • Outlet centres in Germany: New projects mostly below the radar of the approval authorities
  • The current chart: Comparison of turnover development in shopping centres and retail parks during the Corona crisis
  • Fresh from the shelf

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Expert Letter February 2021
  • Sports retail in Germany - an industry in dissolution?
  • Outlet centres: Back on the fast track after the Corona lockdown
  • SCPROE: The crown of the best shopping centre from the tenant's point of view moves to Carinthia for the first time
  • The legal framework for retail location development in Austria - a critical overview
  • New gif guideline: Quality criteria for project-related impact analyses
  • Impact analyses against the background of the Covid 19 pandemic
  • The current graph: Centre operators - normally top, in lockdown flop?
  • (Partially no longer) Fresh from the shelf

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Expert Letter April 2015
  • Market- and demand-oriented commercial space supply policy for growing business locations
  • The gif defines retail
  • Urban districts must become a "brand"
  • Müllaneo" and the "against republic" - basic rules for communication about building projects
  • The current graph: Evaluation of radius clauses in outlet leases by international brand manufacturers 2011 and 2014
  • The city profile: Braunschweig as a retail location
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The emptying of rural areas

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Expert Letter August 2014
  • Value Center. An alternative use for shopping centres and retail parks in saturated markets?
  • The current chart: "Can it be a bit more?" Purchasing power for Food in Germany and Austria
  • Location, location, location - and the proper concept!
  • The city profile: Heilbronn as a retail location
  • Shopping centre awards handed over for Germany and Austria
  • Between great rigour and laissez-faire. The legal framework for Outlet Centres in Germany
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Radius clauses in the market economy

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Newsletter February 2013
  • Germany: Shopping streets now perform better than shopping centres
  • The end of the discount? Wishful thinking instead of realistic forecast
  • The end of misdirection, confusion and horse-delusion. The sales area is finally defined
  • The current chart: Market shares of the distribution channels in shoe retailing
  • The city profile: retail location Speyer
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Hollister and the "cult trap"

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Newsletter November 2012
  • Shopping Center Performance Report Austria 2012: Who is at the top? Who is at the bottom?
  • Germany: Now Europe's most beautiful bride is also succumbing to bargain fever
  • The current chart: The silent boom of online shopping
  • The city profile: Traunstein as a retail location
  • Municipal retail trade concepts - legal requirements, control potential and limits
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The power of the experts

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Newsletter July 2012
  •  The Shopping Center Performance Report Germany - a a big step towards more transparency in the market for
    retail real estate
  • Typical legal framework conditions for rental agreements for retail properties
  • Rental space - more gross from net?
  • The city profile: Heidelberg as a retail location
  • The current chart: The development of space productivity in the German textile retail trade
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Who owns the data from retail surveys?

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Newsletter February 2012
  • Cannibalism in the land of Dracula - the climate is getting rough in the retail market Romania
  • Outlet centres in Europe: ecostra produces the first practical handbook for this form of retailing
  • Securing attractive town centres and creating a modern supply infrastructure: current findings from the
    development of retail trade in the state of Salzburg between 1996 and 2008
  • The city profile: Salzburg as a retail location
  • Quo Vadis, retail in medium-sized towns?
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The perfidy of some copyright-reservations in retail concepts

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Newsletter October 2011
  • The distress of municipal decision-makers with their retail trade experts
  • Shop vacancy in the Hanover Chamber of Commerce and Industry Region. Data - Facts - Countermeasures
  • The city profile: Leipzig as a retail location
  • Situation and development of self-employed traders in the Austrian food retail trade
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: "White Paper on City Centres" - a guideline has just turned the corner!

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Newsletter April 2011
  • Space optimisation in the retail trade: from modern shop design to strategic space management in centre planning
  • Regional economic effects. The market for trade fairs and congresses in Germany (Part 2)
  • The city profile: Innsbruck as a retail location
  • Innsbruck: The successful development of a historical market place into a modern retail location
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: "White Paper on the Inner City" and the way into the green urban ideology

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Newsletter January 2011
  • The Market for Trade Fairs and Congresses in Germany (Part 1)
  • Control of permissible sales areas in the special area (Sondergebiet) solely through project-related stipulations
  • The current chart: Average annual growth rates of real household consumption expenditure until 2025
  • The city profile: Oranienburg as a retail location
  • Outlet Centre Performance Report 2010: German Outlet Centres are already among the most profitable centres in Europe
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Is the German retail sector being miscalculated?

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Newsletter July 2010
  • Dynamics in retail IV: "King Customer" and the future of retail locations
  • When does a retail project have a detrimental effect on central service areas? New case law and a warning letter from Brussels
  • Retail expansion in 2010: Rising demand for space in shopping centres. Trend "back to the city" continues
  • The current chart: The market shares of the distribution channels in the German book market
  • The city profile: Bonn as a retail location
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The strange inflation of vocabulary in retail analytics

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Newsletter December 2009
  • Dynamics in retail III: Location! Location! Location!
  • New opportunities for Essen's city centre
  • Outlet Centres: In Germany the race to catch up begins
  • The latest chart: The composition of the average shop turnover at petrol stations
  • The development of retail-relevant purchasing power in the political districts of Austria from 2000 to 2007
  • The city profile: Potsdam as a retail location
  • The "real estate life cycle": Often used buzzword with little relevance to day-to-day business - or is it not?
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Terrorism and the shopping centre

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Newsletter July 2009
  • Dynamics in retail II: "Survival of the Fittest" - or: from the Bazaar in Damascus to the virtual marketplaces of cyberspace
  • "Strategic urban development" - concept development and implementation (Part 2)
  • Cabbage and turnips when it comes to floor space?
  • The current chart: The development of DIY store sales areas in Germany 1982 - 2008
  • The city profile: Halle an der Saale as a retail location
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The unexpected wisdom of politics in the decline of the department stores

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Newsletter April 2009
  • Dynamics in retail I: Retail between "space mania" and "greed is cool!
  • Strategic urban development and retail concepts (Part 1)
  • The current chart: The development of the number of visitors to the ecostra homepage
  • Swiss mountain real estate: High demand and rising prices in Davos
  • The city profile: Retail location Nauen (district of Havelland)
  • Success factors for outlet centres in Europe: "The Value is in the Mix"
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: Bets on future in impact studies?

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Newsletter October 2008
  • Bella Italia in transition: New locations and new concepts bring about a modernisation push in the retail trade
  • Does the market need the retail space?
  • The latest chart: Forecasts of annual turnover development in the retail sector in European countries between 2004 and 2008
  • From economic benefit to sustainability: Shopping Shopping centres go "green"
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The boom in (offer) presentation tourism

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Newsletter July 2008
  • In the field of tension of retail trends - the food retail trade as driver and driven
  • Outlet Centres: Continued dynamic growth with increasing demands on sites and concepts
  • ecostra compiles market report on the location and property requirements of expanding companies in Germany
  • The current chart: Relative provision of shopping centre space in the European countries 2006
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) latest: News from Duckburg! Or: about the pleasure of gloating in competition

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Newsletter February 2008
  • Between market trade and the latest generation of shopping centres: The status of retail development in Poland
  • The shopping city of the future
  • The current chart: Rental price levels in retail parks in 2007
  • Car park market on the move. The special property multi-storey car park in the sights of investors
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The bluff with Huff

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Newsletter October 2007
  • Boom of Shopping Centres in Berlin and Consolidation of Structures in Brandenburg - The retail trends in the rural suburban zone Berlin-Brandenburg
  • ecostra registered and protected as a word mark at the German Patent and Trademark Office
  • The current chart: Comparison of the area productivity (turnover/m² sales area) of food discounters in Germany
  • Slight decline in ancillary costs for office space in Germany
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The "worst-case" - or how bad is really bad

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Newsletter July 2007
  • ecostra moves headquarters from Freiburg to Wiesbaden
  • Expansion of factory outlet centres in Europe continues unabated
  • Competition between shopping centres in city centres intensifies
  • The current chart: Comparison of turnover development in the European retail trade
  • Fresh from the shelf
  • The (very) last: The myth of the independent expert
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