Future of the inner cities: How Home Shop wants to create the turn!

Future of the inner cities: How Home Shop wants to create the turn!

The challenges for retail in city centers are currently more dramatic than ever. On January 17, 2025, the Middle Lower Rhine Chamber of Commerce and Industry will present new concepts for the city center in a comprehensive initiative. The “Home Shop” campaign, which has existed since 2014, has now relied on the support of 47 IHKs in Germany to create fresh impulses for this development. Last year, numerous events took place in North Rhine-Westphalia, including workshops and forums, which were now summarized in a 24-page brochure entitled "Impulses for the Stadtagenda of tomorrow". This documentation was recently presented in Mönchengladbach, with the NRW Minister of Economics Mona Neubaur praised the efforts and emphasized the importance of a solid strategy for retail.

Retail in the district achieves remarkable 8.6 billion euros in sales annually and employs around 40,000 people. Nevertheless, stationary retail is exposed to increasing pressure. A central problem is the changed consumer behavior, which is mainly manifested by online trading. This has now achieved a share of around 35 percent in the clothing market, which underlines the need for increasing integration of online and offline strategies. Buyers want a living city center that is also active outside of regular opening hours.

impulses for future strategies

A 16-member advisory board has developed recommendations for action that appeals to both state politics and the cities and inner economy. This includes raising awareness of the situation, bundle capacity and working together more effectively. The recommendations provide for aligning the inner economy to people's needs, making them attractive and using current trends. Two innovative models are also presented in the brochure: "Kaufhaus Nett"- a concept with central management, which contains strategically distributed departments in the city center, as well as "Stadtkontor.nrw", which should redefine the city center as an encounter and experience space.

The change in retail

The current business situation in retail is complicated by various external and internal influences. In particular, the upcoming closure of 47 branches of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof in June 2023 and the other closings in January 2024 changed the image of inner -city trade. Corona pandemic has further tightened the already difficult situation. More and more people under the age of 30 no longer appreciate the city center as a shopping location; The proportion fell from 75% in 2015 to only 40% in 2021.

In addition, the "donut effect" led to the shift of consumption to suburbs and residential areas. The rental prices for retail properties in first -class locations have dropped, which has further reduced the attractiveness of the city centers. The inflation-related consumer retention, reinforced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, contributes to the difficulties of inpatient trade. Despite these changes, the function of "shopping" in the city center remains important to consumers, but they want an increased quality of stay with more options for lingering, more green areas and less car traffic.

The need for a new direction of inner -city retail is clear. A future -oriented variety between living, working, gastronomy and leisure is considered a key to ensure the attractiveness of the inner cities. The retail trade in Germany therefore increasingly sees its scope for action in the analyzed integration of traditional models with new urban approaches.