Serbia’s BEO Mall has not only raked in multiple awards, but more importantly, the community of Belgrade has claimed the space as its own. Atterbury Europe’s Roux Gerber and Vlad Valcea reflect on the challenges and opportunities in 2021.

 How has the surrounding community in Belgrade taken to the mall since it opened?
BEO has been very well received by the community, despite heavy trading-hour restrictions over the festive season due to Covid-19. BEO initially seemed to be more of a weekend destination, but week-day visits are steadily increasing.

What has been its busiest day so far?
One would have expected that the peak should have been during the festive break, but Covid-19 restrictions really threw a spanner in the works! So far, the opening week remains the period in which we recorded the most visits. We expect good trading recovery in the spring and even better in the summer, if the vaccination roll-out plans committed to by the government succeed.

Has there been any tenant movement since it opened, maybe due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
Unfortunately, Covid casualties are a reality which has to be managed. Despite measures from the mall to assist and absorb some of the economic effects, some smaller tenants remain under pressure. All efforts are made to retain tenants and luckily, to date, we’ve only had only minor movements in the tenancy. Luckily, there are also some active tenants looking to expand in these times, in the electronics and health-and-beauty arenas and even a fitness gym, which would enhance the value proposition to our customers.

How have you as landlords mitigated the effect of the pandemic on the tenants? Is there any silver lining to the situation that you can share with us?
The effect of the pandemic on the tenants and the landlord are of a long-term nature and recovery plans are linked to future better trading days that we hope and expect to come sooner rather than later. There is only so much that a tenant and landlord can absorb, but each tenant’s situation is treated on its own merit with specific deliverables. We all remain optimistic that “normal” trade will return soon, even if it is in a “modified way”.

We see on Facebook that you have a little robot on the BEO Mall team? What is his name and how did he become part of the team?
Yes! Peper is a little robot that has a few prerecorded replies to questions. He is very popular among BEO’s younger customers and was particularly effective during the festive celebrations. Peper also has a Serbian nickname, Badi.

What has been the best feedback you have received from a tenant and/or a shopper?
We had a delightful comment from an elderly couple enjoying a meal in the food court: “Our BEO Mall is so beautiful, it even makes the food taste better!” This just goes to show that our customers have made BEO their own, which is what we hope for and aspire to.