Designing desire: How destination retail is redefining value

September 12, 2025

ULI Poland’s Places + Spaces series returned after the summer break with a session dedicated to The Future of Destination Shopping. Held at KinoGram in Warsaw’s Norblin Factory, the evening explored how retail is evolving into a multidimensional experience – one that blends commerce, culture, and community.

Opening the evening, Marcin Juszczyk, ULI Poland Chair, reminded the audience that ULI’s strength lies in member-driven initiatives. Active participation, he underlined, is not just about attending events but shaping them. “If you want to learn and meet people, you have to get involved,” he said, framing the evening as a collective exploration of where retail is headed.

Experiential luxury: Value Retail’s philosophy

The keynote was delivered by Sylvie Freund-Pickavance, Global Strategy & Business Development Director at Value Retail, operator of the Bicester Collection. Her visually rich presentation offered a deep dive into how luxury destinations are redefining the very purpose of shopping. She argued that traditional measures – footfall, turnover, tenant mix – are no longer sufficient. Instead, space, service, and storytelling have become the cornerstones of retail value. “People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel,” she quoted Maya Angelou, linking emotional resonance to commercial resilience.

Freund-Pickavance illustrated her points with data from Value Retail’s network of 12 flagship destinations in Europe, China, and the United States. In 2024, these villages attracted more than 46 million guests, with sales through private client services increasing by 30 percent year-on-year. Such performance, she explained, is rooted not in discounting but in curating immersive, emotionally resonant experiences.

The concept of “unreasonable hospitality” was central to her talk. Borrowed from the restaurant world, it refers to going beyond expectations to create unforgettable encounters –whether through personal shopping suites, concierge-level services, or curated cultural programming. “No one who ever changed the game did so by being reasonable,” she said, citing Will Guidara, former general manager of Eleven Madison Park.

Her presentation also underscored the role of sustainability. All Value Retail destinations are aligned with BREEAM and GRESB benchmarks, integrating carbon reduction, waste minimization, and energy efficiency. “Luxury today cannot be divorced from responsibility,” she concluded. “Guests expect beauty, but they also expect purpose.”

Puerto Venecia: Spain’s success story

Joining remotely from Zaragoza, Elin Vigren, Head of Property Management Retail at CBRE Spain, presented Puerto Venecia – a retail and leisure scheme that attracts visitors from across Spain. Its success lies in extending beyond shopping: outdoor activities, gastronomy, water sports, and entertainment anchor the project as a regional hub.

“It is not about competing with online retail,” Vigren noted. “It is about creating something that cannot be replicated online.” By layering leisure and hospitality functions, Puerto Venecia positions itself as both a commercial engine and a tourist destination.

Vigren, reflecting on Puerto Venecia, spoke about adaptability as the defining feature of resilience. The Zaragoza scheme has consistently refreshed its offer – integrating new entertainment, gastronomy, and sports facilities – to stay relevant over more than a decade. “We must accept that consumer expectations are a moving target,” she said. “Destinations that evolve are destinations that survive.”

Góraszka: Poland’s next mixed-use landmark

Turning the spotlight to Poland, Ada Walentek, Head of Market, Property & Asset Services at Nhood Poland, introduced the Góraszka Project, a large-scale development east of Warsaw. Designed as an integrated destination, it will bring together retail, entertainment, leisure, and community functions.

“We are not building a mall,” Walentek stressed. “We are building a destination where people will spend their time, not just their money.” With anchors ranging from DIY and retail parks to theme parks, cinemas, and food clusters, the scheme illustrates how Polish developers are rethinking suburban assets to remain relevant in a rapidly changing market.

The project has already become a reference point in conversations about how Poland’s suburban developments can reinvent themselves. By aligning with shifting consumer priorities, it seeks to avoid the fate of mono-functional retail schemes that struggle to remain relevant.

(from the left) Anna Szelc, Sylvie Freund-Pickavance, Ada Walentek, and Monika Kulawińska

Discussion: value, resilience, and relevance

The three presentations set the stage for a dynamic discussion, moderated by Anna Szelc, Director of Investment Management at Invesco Real Estate, who steered the conversation toward the critical question of how retail destinations can remain relevant in a rapidly shifting environment. Joining her on stage were Sylvie Freund-Pickavance, Ada Walentek, and Monika Kulawińska, Associate Director, CBRE Poland each bringing a distinct perspective to the table.

Freund-Pickavance reiterated that authentic storytelling has become the true currency of future retail. “Consumers can tell instantly whether a story is genuine or fabricated,” she warned, emphasizing that emotional resonance must be earned, not manufactured. Her point underscored that successful destinations are those where identity grows organically from context, brand curation, and cultural meaning.

Walentek brought the focus back to Poland, stressing the importance of community integration. She noted that large-scale projects cannot be parachuted into local contexts without dialogue and partnership. “If you don’t build with the community, you risk building against it,” she remarked. For her, Góraszka is not just a commercial venture but an opportunity to weave leisure, culture, and services into a coherent local fabric.

Kulawińska provided the investor’s lens, pointing out that capital markets are increasingly attentive to revenue diversity. “Resilience will be judged not only by cash flows, but by the ability to diversify revenue beyond retail,” she said. Leisure, food, hospitality, and even residential elements are no longer optional extras – they are prerequisites for financial stability. She added that ESG and governance metrics are also shaping investment decisions, pushing owners to think long-term about both climate and community impact.

The discussion was animated by audience interventions, with questions centering on Poland’s regulatory and financial environment. Participants pointed to challenges around zoning, infrastructure, and financing mixed-use projects, stressing that without alignment between private investors and public authorities, even the most innovative schemes could struggle to deliver on their promise.

Ultimately, the debate converged on a shared conviction: destination shopping must blend experience with purpose. Projects will only thrive if they succeed commercially while also contributing cultural, social, and environmental value to their cities and regions.

Closing reflections

The evening concluded with remarks by Soren Olsen, ULI Poland ExCo Member, who reframed destination retail as an ecosystem of experiences. “It is not about GLA or tenant lists alone – it is about people,” he said. “Communities, customers, and partners give meaning and durability to our projects.” For Olsen, Poland has both the opportunity and responsibility to lead in building destinations that endure by virtue of their social and cultural resonance as much as their financial returns.

Places + Spaces: The Future of Destination Shopping confirmed that the market is shifting decisively from pure retail toward integrated, human-centered destinations. The projects that thrive will be those that measure success not only in sales, but in experiences delivered and communities engaged.

A special thanks to our speakers – Sylvie Freund-Pickavance, Elin Vigren, Ada Walentek, Monika Kulawińska – and to our moderator Anna Szelc. And above all, thank you to our ULI members and partners whose support makes the Places + Spaces series possible.