In the best hands right from the start

Assistance for Founders of new Businesses and Start-Ups

Do you have a business idea and are playing around with the idea of opening a store in a shopping center? Your core business is online sales, but you would also like to expand your business to a brick-and-mortar location? We can support you in the implementation of your plans and prepare you optimally for the launch of your business in the shopping center.

You and your business – become part of the ECE Center Community

Whether it’s maturing your business idea, finding a suitable location, planning, implementation, and technical support for your store concept or other contractual modalities – you can always count on ECE’s support. And that, of course, during the entire leasing period. Moreover, being a part of the ECE Center Community has many more advantages.

Benefit from:

• Professional Center Management
• Contact persons on site
• High visitor frequencies
• Regular opening hours
• Parking spaces and other service facilities for your customers directly at/in the center
• Synergistic effects with the other retail partners in the center, as they are there for each other and support each other

Start-Up – From Idea to Reality

Get to know some of our retail partners whom we have supported over the years in entering the world of shopping centers:

Michael Bailly

Founder and Managing Director Bailly Diehl Textil GmbH

“Unlike in city centers, ECE attaches great importance to a balanced mix of tenants. This also gives smaller suppliers, which we once were, the chance to present their products in top shopping and retail locations.”

Michael Bailly

Masoud Kazemian

Founder and Managing Director chidoba – Mexican Grill

“When I started my business, I conducted about 40 to 50 negotiations with various lessors. In the end, only ECE impressed me. ECE took me by the hand, as if we were partners, and helped me enter the world of shopping centers.”

Founder Success Stories from our Centers

Alte Schule

Sneakers, streetwear, and sportswear are more than just a trend these days – certain shoe models and baseball caps are collected by the mostly younger generation. The entrepreneurial couple Zarko and Yeliz Nedić can understand this passion all too well – after all, with their shop “Alte Schule” in Bielefeld, they have turned their passion into a profession.

“We have long had the vision of a shop where we could offer products that we live and breathe – with the support of ECE, this vision became reality in LOOM Bielefeld in 2017.”

Metzgers

In the fall of 2017, Mike Griesch, together with Bahram Albordji and Benjamin Facius, opened “Metzgers” in Alstertal-Einkaufszentrum (AEZ) in Hamburg. A new concept for a meat and food bar was developed out of the former traditional butcher’s shop “Die Feinschmecker”.

“Since we opened our first ever location in AEZ, we initially had to deal with the contractual modalities, whereby ECE was always there to offer us assistance and help pave the way so that we could have a great launch.”

Fay’s Dressroom

Pastel shades, animal prints, and professional styling advice – fashion expert Gabriele Sollereder knows what is important for feminine styling. The native Bavarian also passes this knowledge on to her customers in “Fay’s Dressroom” in Düsseldorf.

“Establishing a new concept in the market is always associated with a certain amount of risk. That’s why Kö Galerie was a good option for me to have a soft opening and still reach my target group.”

Gepp’s

Gourmet food is one of the rare pleasures in life – Dr. Alexander Gepp, his wife Roja Gepp, and the team of “Gepp’s” live this every day. Launched in 2013 with its first branch in Nuremberg, the culinary workshop has been growing at record speed ever since and now has 27 locations throughout Germany.

“From the beginning, our concept was designed to scale. With ECE, we found a professional partner who has helped pave the way for us to get to where we are today.”

Vincent Vegan

From the streets to Europa Passage – Hamburg’s own Christian Kuper and Topias Rohde dared to take this step in 2017: With their gastronomy concept “Vincent Vegan”, they moved from their food truck directly into the new culinary heavens – the freshly opened Food Sky in Hamburg’s Europa Passage.

“Many people have said to us: ‘If you go to an ECE center, you are going to play with the big boys.’ And that’s right: The teamwork with ECE has been highly professional, supportive, and based on mutual understanding and respect. Because of this, we have become more professional ourselves and feel strong enough to take the next step and enter another shopping center at any time.”