We were looking forward to the Investor Day ofUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield, 18 months after the overthrow of land management and the arrival at the helm of Jean-Marie Tritant responsible for implementing the Refocus plan led by Léon Bressler. In reality, it's more like “Back to the Future” with the renewed desire to close the American parenthesis and return to a pre-pandemic situation.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield will therefore not be the world champion in shopping centers, but intends to remain at the forefront in this market segment that has not said its last word. A bit quickly buried due to the explosion of e-commerce, which was itself exacerbated by successive lockdowns, physical commerce is experiencing its small revenge. It is called “drive to store”, the return to grace of stores. Physical commerce is now an integral part of retailer strategy, a strategy that is truly omnichannel. The question is where and at what price. Because today, the all-out expansion policies of retailers, even if it means finding two stores of the same brand face to face, are well and truly over.
In this sudden selectivity of retailers, one of URW's strengths is to hold the most recognized assets in major European cities that we understood would not turn into ghost cities in the famous world after. The other advantage is that, as a trade specialist, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is none the less so (and especially?) a real estate developer. Jean-Marie Tritant emphasized this several times during the presentation to journalists. A developer certainly constrained by his current level of debt, but a developer who can rely on competent and now multidisciplinary teams as well as first-class real estate, that of existing centers. The real estate company has identified a potential of 2.4 million m 2 on its assets, half of which could be residential.
More than shopping centers, URW promises to build pieces of the city tomorrow, swapping the classical model of renovation/extension in favor of the thinner and more complex model of densification/diversification. The evolution of the Unibail share price will allow us to see if investors buy this scenario.