Retail vacancy across Denmark stood at 5.8% in the second quarter of this year, down 0.3% on a quarter-on-quarter basis and 1.9% compared to the same period a year ago, data from from industry body EjendomDanmark has shown.
According to EjendomDanmark’s analysis, empty retail spaces are ‘becoming more frequent’ in the country’s largest cities, however the capital, Copenhagen, is bucking the trend.
Retail vacancy
Retail vacancy in Copenhagen city centre fell by 8.3 percentage points over the past 12 months to 3.7%. Other major cities also reported declines, with vacancy rates reaching 2.7% in Odense and 5.0% in Aarhus, following annual decreases of 1.8 and 1.0 percentage points respectively.
“It is positive that retail companies still want to have physical stores, even though more and more trade is taking place online,” commented Peter Stenholm, CEO of EjendomDanmark. “Copenhagen stands out in particular with a large drop in store vacancy, but we also see the same development in cities such as Odense and Aarhus.”
A broader mix
At the same time, a broader mix of businesses is taking over previously vacant units, contributing to higher occupancy levels in city centres.
“We are seeing, among other things, that more webshops are opening physical showrooms, especially in Copenhagen and the surrounding area,” Stenholm added. “At the same time, foreign chains continue to demand attractive locations in shopping streets, while clinics, cafés and other experience businesses are moving into some of the premises that were previously empty.
“Of course, we must also add – and this is probably a more long-term explanation – that more Danes are continuing to move to the larger cities. This provides more life and a larger customer base, and this also affects the demand for retail space.”
The latest figure remains well below the long-term average retail vacancy rate of 7.2% recorded since EjendomDanmark began tracking the sector in 2014. Read more here.
