Ages come and ages pass. It feels just like Realidea’s last year’s Christmas greeting, its first ever, was released just a moment ago. The feeling also reflects the speed at which the real estate and retail industry is changing. Digitalisation and responsibility are changing the way consumers behave, and this is also reflected in our own business. We need to be involved in the change as a genuinely active player. This means that we must quickly analyse existing and collected data to support decision-making and that we must have the courage to propose different kinds of solutions and experiment with different types of policies. Without passion and enterprise it is difficult to come up with ideas that stand the test of time.
During our first full year in business, we have purposefully grown our own expert team and also expanded the company’s ownership base. Realidea now has four owners after Markku Hietala joined our ranks in early autumn – and there are 20 of us already!
This year we have supplemented our service offering with shopping centre management. Early in the summer, we started as the shopping centre manager of Sello in Espoo, which was selected as the best shopping centre in Finland in autumn 2019, and in December we took charge of the commercial management of Kämp Galleria in downtown Helsinki and Karuselli in downtown Kerava. This has been a great joy and honour for us – and an opportunity to show what we can do.
This year, the shopping centre market has witnessed the opening of many centres and launches of numerous new retailers in Finland. As we follow how they are received, we must acknowledge that all retailing is not going online. The customer still wants to enjoy the experience of shopping in an inspiring environment. However, in the whirlwind of change, understanding the meaning of concept, creating it and improving it is evermore important.
We still believe that specialist expertise and understanding of the tenant’s business in the various retail sectors play a key role in developing and further building the value of shopping centres and other commercial properties. The focus is on selective concept building, a wide range of sectors and expertise. The need to understand the numbers and knowledge management becomes more pronounced as the market environment tightens under pressure of change. There are great opportunities and potential for development available for new and existing centres and retail properties through actively recognising issues together with property owners, tenants and other stakeholders.
2019 has been a busy year for us at Realidea, and it is now time for us to take a moment to wind down with our loved ones for a relaxing holiday season. We thank our customers and partners for this experience-rich year. We want to continue to be worthy of your trust and to bring positive surprises in the year ahead.
Wishing you happy holidays and a bright 2020!
~ Team Realidea ~
