The 2020 Retail Congress hosted by The Middle East Council of Shopping Centres and Retailers (MECS-R) will see the region’s retail real estate industry gather online around the theme of resilience and optimism.
Held over two days from October 26-27, this year’s gathering will be a virtual conference that gives delegates from outside the region a new opportunity to participate.
“This is the longest period I have not travelled in my career” comments Vindico Founding Director, Peter Row. “Like many of us, the move online has opened new opportunities to engage more with our team, partners and clients. I am looking forward to connecting with peers in the Middle East from my office in Australia.”
Peter joins other retail real estate leaders in offering their insights on ‘resilience and optimism’, published in the accompanying edition of Retail People magazine.
In posing the question, “Which comes first: resilience or optimism?” Peter reflects on the market shocks that have book-ended the past decade, and how “seeing COVID-19 as an accelerant rather than a change agent” underpins optimism for an industry that was already reinventing itself around digital disruption.
Vindico’s journey of reinvention was well underway before the global pandemic arrived, with service and fee model that moved away from traditional procurement to solutions that addressed the deep needs of its core client base.
“We have productised how we meet our market’s needs,” comments Paul Mathews, Vindico Chief Operating Officer, “and as our clients task of juggling the deals, spaces and brands that come together to create a successful opening gets more challenging in a volatile market, our approach fits even better with their need for certainty.”
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