Press Release Loom Bielefeld: New shopping center opens on Thursday Occupancy rate of 100 percent 50 percent of the tenants will debut in the city Bielefeld, October 25, 2017 Bielefeld's new downtown attraction celebrates its opening: Loom shopping center will open its doors on Thursday (October 26, 2017) at eight o'clock following a construction time of approximately two years. All in all the shopping center comprises a sales area of 26,000 m², ca. 110 shops, food services, and service providers, a food court with various culinary offers, and 550 parking spaces. Approximately 750 people will be working in the center. This attractive and modern shopping center, which is built on the site of former City Passage from the 1970s, will revive the shopping destination in the city center. The architectural concept will impress visitors with its highquality, elegant design, and, like its name Loom, is a reminder of the textile industry tradition of Bielefeld. The center benefits from its prime location in Bielefeld's main pedestrian zone, and a region with a high purchasing power and a large catchment area of 1.45 million people. The main entrance of Loom is in Bahnhofstrasse, which is one of the most popular shopping areas in Germany. A footfall count conducted by Jones Lang LaSalle shows that Bielefeld's Bahnhofstrasse has the highest footfall among the cities with up to 500,000 inhabitants. Dr. Volker Kraft, Managing Director of ECE Real Estate Partners, which acquired the shopping center for the ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund in 2011: With our investment of approximately 135 million
euros we managed to revive a traditional shopping destination. Its premium design and the modern concept make Loom the new attraction in downtown Bielefeld. Because of the large catchment area, Loom will attract additional purchasing power to the city. Loom will not only set new trends in terms of urban development and architecture. Visitors can look forward to unique retail concepts with many digital and innovative services. The new shopping center will make Bielefeld an even more important shopping destination especially for people from the surrounding region. In the heart of the city we have created a central leisure destination for the people of Bielefeld and their guests, said Alexander Otto, CEO of ECE. A balanced retail mix and many new concepts The sales area spanning four floors houses a balanced retail mix. 50 percent of the retailers debut in the city, for example Primark who opens its first store in the region of East Westphalia. Other shops include Pull & Bear, Bershka, Superdry, Adidas Originals, KULT, JD Sports, The Store with its brands Camp David and Soccx, and the natural cosmetics retailers Kiehl s and L Occitane. Also premiering in Bielefeld will be Thomas Sabo, Pandora, Stadtparfümerie Pieper (perfumery), Body Attack (sports nutrition products), Party Balloon, Leder Berensen (leatherware), and MAC. The fashion retailers at Loom include G-Star Raw, Only, Maxime (DOB), the young fashion retailers Mister Lady, Tally Weijl, Collosseum, and Sinn Leffers, who leased two shop units as their current location is being renovated. Further anchors are Intersport Voswinkel, Toys'R'Us, who will return to Bielefeld after ten years, Schuhpark, and Thalia, who will open its second shop in Bielefeld. The tailored retail mix is complemented by specialist shops such as Rossmann, Becker & Flöge (optician), eyes and more (optician), the jewelry stores Kenju and Christ, Rituals, Triumph, and more. The fresh and deli zone on ground floor is another customer attraction. It features a Rewe supermarket and a market hall. Furthermore, customers are offered regional and national delicacies, e.g. by Metzgerei Damisch (butcher), Bäckerei Austerschmidt (bakery), Früchte Palast (fruit), Gaumenfreude, Wajos, Reformhaus Bacher, Ciao Bella, CIGO (tobacco), and Black.de. 2
Many retailers, who had already leased a space in the old City-Passage, have returned to new Loom. These include Deichmann, Bijou Brigitte, and Nordsee, but also local and regional retailers and franchisers such as Metzgerei Damisch (butcher), Juwelier Dural (jeweler), Bäckerei Rolf (bakery), Lee & Lee, Alte Schule, Socks for you, Leos Jeans, Haarshop 21, CL Nails, and the concert and theater ticket store Konticket. Wide variety of culinary offers The food service offers at Loom underline its status as a vivid, attractive meeting point. Its food court, named Loom Kitchen, on the second floor offers various exciting culinary offers, 340 seats, and nine different concepts. The food retailers at Loom Kitchen include KFC, Gustosa (Mediterranean food), Chutney (Indian cuisine), Pasta Passion, Lee & Lee (Asian), Burger BRO, Pomm Store, Freshbar (smoothie and juice bar), and Hakari (Asian). Besides the food court, four restaurants on ground floor will feature outside seating in the pedestrian zone and thus contribute to the vibrant atmosphere downtown: Nordsee, Pizzeria Piccolo (Stresemannstrasse), the restaurant Zen Zen (Asian / Sushi), and Mövenpick Marché (Bahnhofstrasse). More than nine percent of the center s shop spaces are leased to food services. This also corresponds to the actual customer s expectations: According to a study by TNS Infratest, about 60 percent of the visitors use the food services at shopping centers. Services tailored to the customers and high level of comfort The wide variety of service offerings also add to the unique shopping experience at Loom. Customers can use a digital 3D wayfinding system or the indoor navigation feature of Google Maps on their smartphone to find their way around. Moreover, Loom will have the most modern parking garage in Bielefeld with a number of convenient services such as the Easy to Park card, which allows for ticketless parking and cashless payments, the Car Finder or the parking guidance system that helps finding available parking spaces easily. The services of the center also include Wi-Fi on all floors, a Selfie Photo Box, cell phone charging stations, high quality lounge areas, and a staffed customer information desk. Family-friendliness is valued high at the center. Therefore, families 3
visiting Loom will benefit from extra-wide parking-spaces for family cars, automatic doors, and extra-wide elevators for kid strollers. The familyfriendly services include specially-fitted family restrooms, mother-child toilets with baby-care facilities, nursing rooms, a service corner in the food court with a microwave and bottle warmer, and a large kids' playground in the food court. Activities and events for the whole family complement the offerings in the center. Premium design and modern architecture The architectural design of the new shopping center blends in perfectly with its existing urban environment. The combination of light sandstone, solid steel beams, and large glass fronts give a modern feel to the building and picks up on the architectural style of many other buildings in Bielefeld. In the interior of the center, especially in the food court, many design elements are inspired by the history of the place which was the site of Bielefeld's first sewing machine factory and the long tradition of the city as the center of the textiles industry. The spectacular focus of the center is the ellipses-shaped plaza which has a height of 32 meters from its floor to the glass dome. The interior is clad in fresh, dynamic colors which will add a vivid, big-city feel to the center. The 24-meter express escalator, which takes visitors directly from ground floor below the glass dome to the second floor, is another magnificent highlight. Meeting sustainability standards Loom also complies with sustainability standards through the use of modern and energy-saving technologies. For example, energy-saving LED lighting, which is controlled by a smart daylight control in the mall, is used throughout the center. An innovative load and energy management helps saving energy through constant monitoring of the energy use. The system avoids load peaks and contributes to a cost-efficient operation of the center. Usage-dependent pumps and ventilators, highly efficient heat recovery systems of the inside air systems, water-saving fittings, and special cooling systems in the rental areas, which allow for cooling at low outside temperatures without the use of additional chillers, also contribute to saving resources and protecting the climate. A modern parking guidance system facilitates energy-saving and environmentally friendly 4
car traffic at the center. It quickly leads the visitors to the next available parking space and thus avoids unnecessary use of gas and reduces exhaust fumes. Moreover, there are three parking spaces with charging points for electric vehicles. For the latest news from Loom, please check out its homepage and its Facebook page. www.loom-bielefeld.de, www.facebook.de/loom (German only) About ECE ECE was founded in 1965 by mail-order company pioneer Werner Otto (1909-2011). It is still owned by the Otto family and is managed by Alexander Otto, CEO of ECE. As a specialist in commercial real estate, ECE provides all services related to properties from one source and creates a clear added value for its customers, partners, and clients by bundling its entire know-how. The market value of the properties managed by ECE (assets under management) currently amounts to 33.4 billion euros. With 199 shopping centers under its management (52 of which are under the management of MEC METRO-ECE Centermanagement GmbH & Co. KG) and activities in 12 countries, ECE is the European market leader in the shopping center industry. More than 4.3 million customers visit ECE centers every day, where approximately 21,000 retail renters generate an annual turnover of around 24 billion euros at all ECE centers combined, which have a total sales area of around 7.2 million square meters. ECE Real Estate Partners G.m.b.H. is an institutional fund management platform and a licensed alternative investment manager (AIFM). The ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Funds, which are managed by ECE Real Estate Partners, focus on the acquisition of shopping centers with value-add potential in Europe. The managed portfolio consists of 16 shopping centers in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, and Denmark worth 3 billion euros. Media contact ECE Projektmanagement Loom Christian Stamerjohanns Michael Latz Press Officer/Head of Public Relations Center Manager Telephone: +49 (0)40/60606-6898 Telephone: 0521-9710970 E-mail: press@ece.com E-mail: info@loom-bielefeld.de www.ece.com www.loom-bielefeld.de 5