ECE and Pepco are on a joint expansion course. The discounter has signed a total of 17 leases for locations in the Hamburg company’s shopping centers, ECE Marketplaces GmbH & Co. KG announced on Tuesday in a post on the LinkedIn careers network.
However, the letting of an area of around 9,500 square meters in the ECE shopping centers is only the beginning of the joint expansion. Further leases will follow, as Pepco is planning to open around 2,000 stores in Germany in the coming years. A very ambitious goal, because the discounter, which has been active in Germany since last year, currently operates eight branches.
“Our goal is to be close to all potential customers and the opening of 17 branches in ECE shopping centers across Germany is just one of many next steps,” says Patrick Steiger, Operations Manager of Pepco Germany.
Some of the retail space now rented by Pepco was previously a branch of the Hamburg shoe retailer Görtz, which had to close as part of its insolvency proceedings. The areas meet Pepco’s requirements in terms of size, technical equipment, modern standards and flexible floor plans and are now to be gradually opened as Pepco branches in the coming weeks, according to the article.
“We are very pleased about this strong rental success and the partnership with Pepco,” says Joanna Fisher, CEO of ECE Marketplaces GmbH & Co. KG. “It is an excellent example of how well and flexibly shopping centers can adapt to structural changes in retail.”