The Cora Shopping Centres are coming back to life
The Cora Shopping Centres opened their doors for an entire weekend to showcase the progress of their transformation and mark the completion of the second stage of the project.
So I went to the Cora Shopping Centre in Woluwe to see for myself how the transformation was progressing. Because remember, I had already written about it. It’s a huge, ambitious project, and quite a rare one in Belgium. In short, I wanted to see where things stood.
And I was given a personalised tour with Bram Thomas, Managing Director at Mitiska REIM.
Where do things stand?
Well, things are moving along pretty well.
95% of the retail space across the Cora Shopping Centres is now secured. And above all, many retailers are already present and operational in the different galleries.
Less than a year after the acquisition of the seven sites was finalised, almost all of the retail space resulting from the transformation has therefore already been secured.
Among the retailers already present are Delhaize, JYSK, ALDI, Lidl, Dreamland, Kiabi… In short, some pretty strong names.
Bram Thomas, Managing Director at Mitiska REIM, sums up the progress of the project as follows: “We are particularly pleased to be able to unveil the new face of the Cora Shopping Centres in Belgium today. In just a few months, these sites have undergone a spectacular transformation. But beyond the works themselves, our ambition was above all to create centres that are more attractive, more diverse and more aligned with the expectations of new generations of consumers. The best illustration of the transformation’s success is the retailers that have already joined us, active in food, fashion, home and décor, sports and leisure, and hospitality. And the story does not end here: major new openings are still expected over the coming months, with official inaugurations to follow.”
Opening weekends
And ultimately, holding opening weekends at this stage of the project makes quite a lot of sense.
Phase 1 has been completed on schedule. Phase 2 is also progressing according to plan. In short, this is the right time to show what has already been achieved.
And the timing is pretty good: September is when consumers return from their holidays, get back into their routines and return to their shopping centres.
More importantly, why wait until the entire transformation is complete to communicate when so many retailers are already open and operational?
There is something to show. So why not show it?
What does it look like?
As Bram Thomas showed me, the concept within the galleries is actually quite simple: creating a genuine shopping journey.
It is not simply a shopping gallery where you walk in, do your shopping and leave. The idea is to be able to make a complete visit, with a sufficiently broad and complementary offer to make people want to stay and come back.
Another important element is the local anchoring.
In Woluwe, for example, the site is located in the heart of a residential area, but also close to major office districts. The local catchment area and visitor base is therefore particularly broad. The offer is designed accordingly.
In Châtelineau or Rocourt, the surroundings are different. The concept remains the same, but the tenant mix and certain locations can be adapted to local specificities.
As Bram Thomas explains, the starting question is fairly simple: what might a family need to find when they come here?
The objective is therefore to meet as many needs as possible in one place.
But in each gallery, the ambition is also to make things as convenient as possible for visitors. Free parking, easy access, public transport connections… right down to the toilets, which remain free of charge. It may sound basic. But in a retail environment where every point of friction can cost you a visitor, these details matter.
My 20/CENT
One thing has to be said.
You can debate the Cora hypermarket concept of the past and the reasons behind its decline. But one thing is certain: at least one element was well thought through at the time, and that was the choice of locations for the shopping galleries. Accessible sites, well established in their surroundings and, for several of them, also accessible by public transport.
What is particularly interesting to observe today is the return of momentum. Bram Thomas repeated this to me several times: there is a real sense of dynamism around each opening. At some sites, visitor numbers have already returned to past levels even though the works and openings are not yet completely finished. Hornu is one example.
How can this renewed activity be explained? Obviously, there is the modernisation of the sites. But that is not all. There is also a younger, more up-to-date retail offer, a greater mix of retailers and a clear ambition to provide something more aligned with current expectations.
And then there is local adaptation. You don’t necessarily run the same marketing activation in Woluwe as in Châtelineau, because the commercial realities and audiences are different. This is probably one of the most interesting aspects of the project: behind a common concept, each site retains a certain ability to adapt to its environment.
And it’s not over yet. Further transformations are planned for 2027. Some will depend in particular on permits and assessments currently underway. These include exterior façades and other infrastructure upgrades.
What I take away most from this story is the dynamism that is clearly returning to these sites, of course. But, more importantly, one of the most ambitious retail projects currently underway in Belgium appears to be “on schedule”. And for a project of this scale, that is already quite remarkable.
Well… now, couldn’t we send the workers carrying out the transformation to give a little helping hand to the guys stuck at Carrefour Léonard or on the Brussels Ring?
CoraRetailMitiska ReimBram ThomasTransformation