Europe�s mega mall � Istanbul Cevahir

Recipe for success: events and promotions

Located in Sisli, one of the most crowded areas of the city, Istanbul Cevahir has over 300 stores spread over six floors. The mall is opened year-round, from 10:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. For New Year’s and other religious holidays, the timetable is extended to midnight.

Istanbul Cevahir was opened in October 2005, the costs of the project being around $250 million. Cevahirler Group developer sold the project in 2007 to buyout firm St. Marins for an estimated $750 million. The management of the mall has been outsourced to real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.

Richard M. Davies (photo) director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s office in Turkey told Wall-Street what measures have been put in place to increase traffic of Istanbul Cevahir, one of the largest malls in Europe, as he prefers to refer to it, as many retail players use GLA (Gross Leasable Area) as a determinant metric to determine the largest malls. (e.n 110,000sqm).

“In order to combat the situation, we have established a strong marketing and promotions strategy to increase the shopper catchment area and to drive the spend of our visitors. This has been through special marketing events such as: Country Months- a whole month dedicated to a chosen country’s culture, music, food, trade and some other major aspects. We have had France, Italy and Sweden”.

Another event, “Traffic Week” was aimed at rewarding motorists who obeyed the traffic rules for one week. Around 10,000 posters were published by the police department and delivered to all schools, reserved more than 100 bus lines to advertise the event.

Additionally, Valentine’s Day is also celebrated at Istanbul Cevahir: three couples can win a trip to Paris to celebrate the event, lucky couples being selected from customers who spent over 50Turkish lira (around €23) in the center.

Another marketing solution consisted in a combination of retailer promotions, Davies continued, such as Samsung’s Basketball Show Event where celebrity basketball players participated.

“In addition, we also carefully monitor our expenditure budget and managed the overall costs particularly when items such as utilities have seen country wide increases. We maintain close relationships with our retailers and monitor their performance through individual discussion and a review of their turnover performance where this is provided,” said the director of Jones Lang LaSalle, Turkey.

Attraction of the mall, the entertainment district

However, one of the unique features of Istanbul Cevahir is its Atlantis Entertainment centre. The amusement park contains 12 rides, an internal roller coaster with 25m jump and over 50 SEGA games.

Atlantis Entertainment Center encompasses 58,000square meters over five floors and it’s the first amusement park built inside a mall, and it is opened Tuesdays to Sundays from 11:00am to 10:00pm.

Apart from the amusement park, the mall also includes a local and international food court offer, 11 screen cinema, 2 theaters, 10 lane bowling alleys and over 300 stores that brought around 18million visitors in the center in 2008.

“The pedestrian flow in 2008 was 17,940,677. This represents an increase of 15% since 2007. We are forecasting over 19 million visitors for 2009. We are constantly focusing and improving the overall mix of the centre to its visitors", Davies added.

Since the acquisition of the shopping center in March 2007, the consultant brought new tenants and reconfigured units and common area space to C&A (2422 sq m), Winmax (1310 sq m), D&R Records (980 sq m) and Mango (784 sq m). A part of the retailers have extended units such as Adidas (from 270 sq m to 924 sq m), Collins (180 sq m to 374 sq m), Tiffany (180 sq m to 374 sq m).

“We have made other lettings to Pagi (cosmetics) Felicity, Maisonette, Home Sweet Home, Tanti Toni, İdaş (home textile and accessories), Wenice Kids, GS Store, Değirmen Cafe, Opal Optik, Vakıf Bank, ING Bank, Popeyes, Okafe, Sadik Efendi, Gelik, Fisho, Sofia. We have also undertaken relocations of Pizza Hut, Sbarro”, Jones Lang LaSalle’s specialist said.

Tourism, growth engine for sales

Even if Istanbul is known as a perfect destination to do shopping largely due to the Grand Bazaar, tourism is a growth engine for the mall sales.

“The tourism sales are indeed a valuable contribution and we have seen positive results from “Tax Free” shopping”, said Davies, adding that the mall had a 5% increase on Tax Free shopping compared to last year.

At the entrance of the mall, the security system differs considerably compared to any other security system in Romania, each visitor is checked individually and the exit is separated from the entrance of the shopping center. Davies says the majority of shopping centers, hotels and other public buildings have strong security measures in Istanbul and Turkey.

The control of the visitors is as rigorous as that of cars parking in the underground compound, each car being subject to a thorough check-up. Cevahir parking has 2,500 spaces and encompasses 70,000 sqm over four floors.