Less vacancy through collaboration?

Vacant stores. Currently something you cannot avoid. Walk down an average shopping street and in addition to the usual "sale" and "clearance" posters, you will just as often see "for rent," "for sale" or "closed due to circumstances." For the latter, consider the closure of Polare stores, for example.

What to do.

Can you do anything about this? Prime Minister Rutte would say, spend more money and have faith. Of course, that's a little too easy. More important is to make shopping areas more attractive. People need to come there not only to store, but also to stay and experience experiences. You have to offer something to the consumer so that consumers don't order everything over the Web.

Collaboration imperative

To make that happen, cooperation between the various market players and governments is necessary. Take the Nijmegen Four-Day Walk, for example. An unprecedented annual event in the middle of the city, where many parties work together and benefit from it. Together you are stronger! Throughout the year, parties can of course also work together, for example to realize a different purpose for a store building. Is there an empty property, near the center, see if in consultation with all parties this property can be transformed into a city hotel, for example. Destinations should be changed and more can be achieved in consultation.

If the zoning cannot be changed, enter into temporary leases if necessary, such as with a retailer for up to two years. Think of it as a trial period. If it goes well, then both tenant and landlord benefit from extension. If it goes badly, then you can part ways without any problems and both parties can try something new.

Less vacancy through cooperation

Try to solve and tackle the problem of vacant retail premises through cooperation at local, regional and provincial levels, both with market players and with governments. This is also the conclusion of the "Shopping Area in the Future" report recently presented.