Central and Eastern Europe's retail property market is entering a new phase of its lifecycle. After three decades of rapid modern retail development, a significant share of the region's shopping centres, retail parks and department stores is now between 16 and 30 years old.
According to Colliers' latest ExCEEding Borders Retail 2026 report, the region's ageing retail stock is not necessarily facing widespread obsolescence. Instead, the market is entering a major reinvestment and transformation cycle, with owners increasingly focusing on refurbishment, repositioning, tenant-mix optimisation and selective redevelopment.
Across the CEE-6 and Baltic markets analysed, modern retail stock totals approximately 33.3 million sqm, of which 20.0 million sqm – around two-thirds – is more than 15 years old. More than 10.6 million sqm is already over 20 years old. The trend is particularly evident in the region's capital cities. Budapest has the highest share of modern retail stock over 15 years old at 84%, followed by Riga at 76% and Warsaw at 70%. More than 60% of modern retail stock is also over 15 years old in Tallinn, Bratislava, Prague and Vilnius.
From expansion to optimisation
The ageing profile of CEE retail reflects the development boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many of the shopping centres built during this period remain operationally relevant but increasingly require investment to meet changing consumer expectations, retailer requirements and environmental standards.
"CEE's retail market is moving from expansion to optimisation. The scale of mature stock creates significant investment opportunities, but there is no universal solution. Depending on the asset’s location, competitive position and physical characteristics, the appropriate strategy may range from tenant-mix optimisation and refurbishment to a change of format or comprehensive redevelopment," says Wojciech Wojtowicz, Senior Business Analyst, Market Insights, Colliers.
In contract to some Western European markets, where obsolete shopping centres are increasingly being converted into residential, logistics or mixed-use developments, many CEE retail assets continue to benefit from relatively healthy occupancy and occupier demand. This means that modernisation rather than wholesale redevelopment remains the dominant strategy across much of the region.
Shopping centres evolve beyond shopping
The transformation of mature retail assets is increasingly going beyond physical refurbishment.
Landlords are broadening their tenant mix to include food and beverage, leisure, entertainment, health, wellness, fitness, healthcare, co-working and community services. These functions create additional reasons to visit, support footfall and are less exposed to direct online substitution than traditional goods retail.
The trend reflects broader changes in the CEE consumer market. Although the region is experiencing population ageing and, in several countries, population decline, household purchasing power continues to increase as incomes and productivity converge towards Western European levels. Ageing is also likely to change the composition of consumer spending, increasing the relative importance of healthcare, leisure and locally delivered services. Even where national populations decline, the region’s largest metropolitan areas are likely to remain important centres of population and purchasing power, supported by internal and international migration.
“Population ageing does not necessarily mean a shrinking consumer market. CEE households are becoming wealthier, while purchasing power is increasingly concentrated in the region’s largest cities. At the same time, an ageing population and a shift towards more service-oriented consumption are changing the structure of demand. Retail destinations will therefore need to offer more than traditional shopping, strengthening the case for the modernisation and repositioning of mature assets,” says Grzegorz Sielewicz, Head of Economic & Market Insights, CEE, Colliers.
This evolution is already visible across the region. In Estonia, shopping centres have increasingly incorporated gastronomy, leisure, sport, wellness and healthcare. Tallinn's T1 Centre, for example, has progressively reduced its reliance on traditional retail by introducing recreational, sports, beauty, wellness and office uses.
In Lithuania, the focus remains largely on modernisation and targeted repositioning. MADA in Vilnius is undergoing a major reconstruction aimed at creating a community-oriented lifestyle destination, while Europa Shopping Centre has strengthened its health, wellness, sport and leisure offer.
In Slovakia, mature shopping centres are responding to a highly competitive market through refurbishment, food and beverage, healthcare, wellness, entertainment and convenience-led retail. Vivo! Bratislava, for example, has repositioned towards daily needs and value-oriented retail, including a dual-supermarket concept.
Mixed-use transformation is emerging
While refurbishment remains dominant, the report also identifies a growing number of cases where the existing retail concept is no longer considered sufficient.
Poland provides some of the clearest examples of this trend. As the market has become increasingly saturated, selected older assets are being transformed into retail parks, mixed-use schemes, offices or residential developments. Former retail sites such as Pasaż Tesco in Gdynia and Malta in Poznań are being redeveloped for residential use, while other shopping centres have been converted into more flexible retail park formats.
Latvia also illustrates the potential for more ambitious urban transformation. The redevelopment of MOLS in Riga will create a mixed-use destination incorporating retail, dining, healthcare, hospitality, co-working, sports, wellness, leisure and events, centred around a planned 8,650 sqm public square. The project is intended to transform an inward-looking suburban shopping centre into a broader urban destination.
Romania is seeing a similar spectrum of strategies, ranging from targeted refurbishment to more substantial redevelopment. Agora Mall in Arad, for example, was extensively modernised and repositioned around retail, food, leisure and services after experiencing a period of very low occupancy.
Retail parks follow a different lifecycle
Retail parks are generally younger than enclosed shopping centres and continue to benefit from strong occupier demand in many CEE markets. Consequently, the investment focus is different. Rather than large-scale repositioning, owners are concentrating on ESG upgrades, service provision, convenience-led retail and improvements to the customer experience.
The format is particularly relevant in smaller and medium-sized cities, where convenience, accessibility and efficient operating costs can support retailer demand.
At the same time, some older hypermarket-led schemes are being transformed into modern retail parks. Examples in Poland and Czechia demonstrate how a change of retail format can provide an alternative to complete redevelopment.
The next retail cycle will be asset-specific
The report identifies a broad spectrum of strategies for ageing retail properties, ranging from tenant remixing and refurbishment to extensions, format conversions, mixed-use redevelopment and, in selected cases, demolition. The appropriate strategy increasingly depends on location, catchment, occupancy, competitive position, physical characteristics and redevelopment potential.
The next phase of CEE retail will be less about adding new space and more about making existing space more relevant to changing consumer and occupier needs. Demographic change, digitalisation and sustainability requirements will increase the pressure to adapt, but the appropriate response will differ from asset to asset.
Rather than signalling the end of the shopping centre, the current cycle is likely to redefine what a successful retail destination looks like – increasingly combining shopping with food, services, leisure, wellness, entertainment and community functions.
Download the report from the link below:
https://www.colliers.com/en-hu/research/exceeding-borders-maintaining-retail-excellence-and-restoring-potential
