More people visited shopping malls in Poland in April this year than at the equivalent time 2019, before the pandemic wrought havoc on the retail sector. While the figures indicate a return to pre-Covid shopping habits, they are also likely to have been impacted by the arrival of millions of Ukrainian refugees.
Overall visits to indoor shopping centres – based on the footfall density index – were up 2.5% in April 2022 compared to April 2019, according to the Polish Council of Shopping Centres (PRCH), a not-for-profit association representing around 200 such businesses.
In March, overall turnover figures were 1.1% higher than they were three years earlier. There were particularly large increases in spending on food shopping, domestic appliances and restaurants.
The biggest shopping centres have benefited most from an upturn in visits from shoppers. Those with floor space of more than 60,000 square metres recorded turnover 5.9% higher than three years ago, while smaller malls of between 20,000 and 40,000 square metres saw a drop of 5.5%.
The figures partly reflect shopping done by and on behalf of Ukrainian refugees, says the PRCH, which notes that April’s footfall increases were especially large in cities and regions with a high concentration of refugees.
Over three million people have fled across the border into Poland since Russia’s invasion in February, and it is estimated that 1.5 to 2 million remain in the country. They have settled in particular in large cities such as Gdańsk, Katowice, Wrocław and Kraków.
However, PRCH adds that the increased spending in shopping mall restaurants indicates a return to pre-pandemic habits and a desire to renew contacts.
“The latest data…show that results have surpassed pre-pandemic levels,” said Krzysztof Poznański, PCRH’s managing director. “The trend of customers returning to shopping centres is getting stronger and shop leaseholders are achieving better and better operating results.”
Main image credit: Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia (under CC BY-SA 3.0 PL)
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
