Factory outlet center

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On September 29, 2005 the FOC "Ingolstadt Village" opened in Bavaria

Factory Outlet Center (FOC) , and Designer Outlet Center (DOC) , Outlet Mall (HDG) , manufacturer direct sales centers (HDVZ) or factory distribution center refers to a plant and form of distribution of the retail industry, their in several manufacturers branded products offer reduced prices on a common sales outlet. Factory sales centers are centrally planned, implemented and managed by an operator. They represent a special form of large-scale retail . The FOC usually encompass several thousand square meters of sales area with 60 to 100 shops and a range of textiles , sporting goods , shoes and other industries that are usually found in city centers. In the case of a pure factory outlet , on the other hand, only one manufacturer offers its goods.

Development of the FOC concept

The first FOC was tested in Pennsylvania (USA) in 1971 , initially as a simple bundling of several factory outlets without paying particular attention to the location. The concept was optimized in the following years, and by 1995 around 324 FOCs had been set up in the USA, covering the US market. In 1984, the European market was opened up with the first foundation in France. The real upswing of the FOC in Europe began when American operating companies began investing in Great Britain in 1988. This country currently (May 2006) has the most FOC in Europe with 36 settlements.

The European countries have very different operating densities. In March 2005 there were 32 factory outlet centers in Great Britain (May 2006: 36), in Italy 14, in France 10, in Spain 9, in Switzerland and Sweden 5 and in Germany only 3 factory outlet centers. The different equipment depends on the one hand on the market potential, i.e. on population and purchasing power, but also on the differently restrictive planning law treatment of the countries.

According to the information in the 4th European Factory Outlet Center Report 2009 , there were a total of 160 Factory Outlet Centers in Europe at the beginning of 2009 (centers with more than 4,000 m² of retail space). The average size of the outlet center was 18,332 m². The largest inventory was found in Great Britain with 37 existing outlet centers. In Italy (including San Marino) there were already 19 outlet centers at the beginning of 2009. 19 outlet centers were also registered in France. There were 18 centers in Turkey and 15 in Spain.

Effects on space

The location for a FOC project is usually chosen so that around three million residents live within one hour by car. The catchment area of ​​the customers and the sphere of activity of the FOC are correspondingly large. Most visitors come by car and only rarely by public transport, which is why such a center induces high traffic flows. In contrast to the usual concept for higher-quality goods offers, the typical FOC is outside of urban centers on the green field . Spatial and regional planners often criticize the fact that the centers, with their peripheral locations, impair the system of central locations , which in Germany forms a decisive basis for spatial planning . With this justification, most of the settlement requests by FOC operators have so far been answered negatively.

Criticism of the FOC concept in Germany

The FOC in Neumünster, which opened in 2012, also had to fight against resistance at first.

With the first settlement plans in Germany resistance against the FOC arose, especially because of the only decentralized choice of location by the operators. The main actors in the resistance are retail associations, chambers of industry and commerce, trade unions, municipal associations and environmental organizations. They fear unequal competition, business closures and declines in jobs caused by declining sales, ecological problems due to high land consumption , high traffic volumes and emissions. Another group of opponents can be manufacturers as potential tenants in the FOC. In many places they are threatened by retailers with delisting if they rent a planned FOC.

Important arguments against the settlement of factory outlet centers also concern urban planning and spatial planning aspects. Many municipalities fear an increased "desolation of the inner cities", since the range of the FOC overlaps with that of the traditional business centers. In addition, the choice of location contradicts the system of central locations anchored in the spatial planning. For this reason, the Ministerial Conference for Spatial Planning (MKRO) in 1997 came to the following resolution: "According to the guiding principles of sustainable spatial development, FOCs are only permitted in regional centers / large cities at integrated locations on a city-friendly scale." (MKRO 1997) Against this background the outcome of a spatial planning procedure for an FOC project is often to be judged negatively if it is outside a central supply area of ​​a central location. Occasionally, the allegedly high costs involved are criticized. However, since the spatial planning procedure - insofar as it is necessary for an FOC under the relevant state law - checks the basic spatial compatibility at an early planning stage, it can also be argued that it can avoid costs. In addition, FOC mostly encounter vehement resistance from neighboring municipalities who want to protect their centers and prevent settlement. So the pressure to settle in Germany by the project sponsors eased very early. The locations at which the existing building law would allow a building permit are often not interesting for a settlement. A FOC settlement, on the other hand, can open up opportunities for the further development of rural areas or increase the attractiveness of holiday regions. Since the number of possible FOCs for Germany is assessed as limited (Lademann / Treis 1998), the endeavors of the state planning authorities to allow limited settlements and to direct them specifically to holiday regions (Lüneburg Heath) can be seen on the basis of the approval of the FOC in Soltau. A final assessment of the spatial and urban development consequences of settlement is not yet possible at the present time.

As a consequence of the restrictive licensing practice for FOCs in Germany, several large FOCs, visited to a large extent by German consumers, were set up in the border area beyond the German borders. a. in Roermond (Netherlands), Salzburg (Austria) and Maasmechelen (Belgium).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Homepage of McArthur Glen UK Ltd., London - according to its own information, market leader in the FOC market in Europe