Shopping center boss:

“Six to eight open Sundays a year for everyone”

There are always queues at the few locations where stores are allowed to open on Sundays.

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz, Krone KREATIV)

New initiative in the opening hours debate: Christoph Andexlinger, head of the domestic shopping center market leader SES (e.g. Europark Salzburg, Huma Eleven in Vienna, Murpark Graz), is campaigning for stores to open on several Sundays a year.

"We don't need a general Sunday opening, but I am calling for six to eight open Sundays a year - not just for shopping centers, but for all retailers in Austria," says Christoph Andexlinger.

The top manager also has a reason for this: "There are Sundays on which a lot of sales flow into neighboring countries. We should rather keep the money in the country." He cites the time before Christmas, before school starts and at the start of the spring and fall seasons as examples.

On Saturdays at 6 p.m., the frequency is often very high
Andexlinger would also like to see the law on Saturday opening hours changed so that shops don't have to close until 7 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.: "On Saturdays at 6 p.m., footfall is often very high. It's a shame that you can't take advantage of this even longer."

Christoph Andexlinger, Head of SES Spar European Shopping Centers

(Bild: Florian Stuerzenbaum)

Andexlinger denies that this would be to the detriment of retail employees: "An extra hour on Saturdays means that jobs can be created. There are many young people who would like to work on Saturday afternoons because they get paid extra."

A relaxation is important for bricks-and-mortar retail: "What we always forget: Online retail is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Brick-and-mortar retail really doesn't have it easy and we know what it looks like in city centers when the stores close. We all want vibrant city centers. Retailers employ staff, pay taxes and we really need to look at how we can relieve the pressure on them."

Europark Salzburg is to be expanded by 8,500 square meters.

(Bild: EVA TRIFFT FOTOGRAFIE)

At Spar subsidiary SES, which operates 28 shopping centers in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, business was good again in 2023: retailers and restaurateurs were able to increase their sales by 5.1 percent to 3.32 billion euros. There were 112 million visitors in total, 5.2% more than in 2022 - and a record figure. The space is also well let, with a vacancy rate of less than one percent.

Andexlinger was also pleased with the development in Austria: "We had an increase in sales of 4.9%, which corresponds to just over 2.2 billion euros. This puts us well ahead of the market trend, as retail sales in Austria only increased by 3.6% in 2023 according to Statistics Austria."

Europark Salzburg to be expanded by 8,500 square meters
The largest SES shopping center in Austria, Europark Salzburg, is to be expanded. According to Andexlinger, the state's confirmation of the zoning is a mere formality: "I expect construction to start in 2025 and be completed by the end of 2026." The shopping area would increase by 8,500 square meters from the current 51,000.