ATTICA department stores are growing

A number of decisive factors have shaped the development of Attica Department Stores, giving impetus to new decisions that have to do mainly with the expansion and remodelling of their areas. It should be recalled that Attica Department Stores is now - from September 2023 - the strong "weapon" of Lambros Papaconstantinou's Ideal Holdings group, through a major 100 million euro deal that essentially marked the group's participation in the retail sector, in addition to the activities in which it had entered until then.

THE INCREASED NUMBER OF VISITORS AND... SQUARE METRES

First of all, new investments are not made if the right foundations are not in place and in this case, these are the positive financial results announced these days by the company. Indicatively, in 2023 Attica Department Stores recorded sales of 213.09 million euros compared to 190.62 million euros in the previous financial year, with an increase in turnover in 2023 of approximately 11.79%. Its gross profit also increased by 18.5% due to the significant increase in turnover and exceeded EUR 78 million, while profit before tax increased by 42.13% to EUR 14 million from EUR 9.87 million in 2022. Profit after tax also experienced a 30.87% increase from EUR 7.6 million in 2022 to EUR 9.95 million.

The positive performance is due to the increase in tourist flows and visitors choosing department stores in strategic locations such as Attica, especially during discount periods, which contributed accordingly to turnover, but also to the expansion of store space that the company undertook, giving additional square meters and therefore offering more products to customers. Perhaps the most typical case is the expansion of the 2nd floor, while some 4,000 sqm of sales area had already been added, as the 3rd and 4th floors were expanded, while additional square metres were also given on the 5th floor.

In this context, two are the main pillars of the strategy that is being drawn up and is already being implemented: the expansion and renovations in the existing spaces, but also the entry of new, more affordable products, as well as luxury brands - given that at the moment we find a rich range of products from international fashion houses in the stores - in order to attract new categories of audience, but also to entice with more choices the existing audience that prefers Attica stores.

The "debut" of the new strategy came by securing the future of the iconic space on Panepistimiou Street, which is none other than City Link shopping centre, which is inextricably linked to Attica department stores in the minds of consumers.

For this particular space, the company has concluded a lease agreement with PICAR AEEE, a subsidiary of Piraeus Bank, thus securing the right to use 35.3 thousand square meters within the building of the Army Mutual Fund which houses the department store of Syntagma, i.e. City Link. The contract was originally due to expire on 28/02/2027, however an extension was available from Attica Department Stores. This was done, as the company exercised its contractual right for a unilateral extension for the additional period of 24 years, retaining its location in the Attica Department Stores' trademark building. The extension is contingent upon the fulfillment of a corresponding extension of the term of the lease agreement between PICAR AEEE and the Army Reserve Fund.

We should note that the company is also renewing Attica in the Golden Hall shopping centre, with a complete remodelling of the space that will be completed in the autumn, while similar works will also be carried out in the store that operates within the Mediterranean Cosmos shopping centre.

More specifically, with regard to Golden Hall, a commercial cooperation agreement for the operation of the department store in the Golden Hall shopping centre was signed with LAMDA DOMI S.A. for 10 years, with a unilateral right to extend the term of the agreement under the same terms and conditions for a further 28 years. Similarly, for Mediterranean Cosmos, it has concluded commercial cooperation contracts with the company PYLAIA S.A. which expire on 31/05/2047.

The strategy for The Mall Athens, for which the company has concluded a commercial cooperation agreement with LAMDA OLYMPIA VILLAGE SA, for which it has granted a letter of guarantee of EUR 220,622.91, is also in line with the strategy.

However, the property on Tsimiski Street in Thessaloniki was not left out of the targeting either, as the company has concluded a lease contract with the legal entity under public law, the Holy Monastery of Agia Theodora of the Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki, for the lease of the building at number 48-50 for 12 years, with the possibility of unilateral extension by the company for a period equal to the contractual term.

Finally, it should be stressed that most of Attica stores operates under the shop-in-a-shop scheme, as is the case with Golden Hall, The Mall and Mediterranean Cosmos.