ECE again achieves strong leasing performance with around 770,000 m² of leased area in shopping centers

ECE has once again achieved a strong leasing performance for its shopping center portfolio in 2025, leasing a total of around 770,000 m² of space in the centers and concluding around 2,700 lease contracts. In Germany alone, ECE leased around 550,000 m² of space and concluded around 1,800 lease contracts.

"The strong leasing result once again shows that demand on the retail market for space in our centers remains very high and that we are very successful in finding attractive tenants. At the same time, we have further reduced existing vacancies and increased the leasing rate in our center portfolio to 95%," explains Joanna Fisher, CEO of ECE Marketplaces.

The leasing successes include contracts signed with important tenant partners such as the Inditex Group, New Yorker, TK Maxx, Rituals and the Bestseller Group as well as contracts with new, expanding international brands such as Lager 157 and Miniso, which have realized their first stores in Germany in ECE centers.

"Europe is a very interesting market for many international retailers, so we are seeing an increased trend in cross-border activities, which are providing good impetus in the retail market and creating additional momentum," continues Joanna Fisher.

Successful re-letting of former department stores

As part of its successful letting activities, ECE has also successfully re-let several former large Galeria department stores in the centers it operates, including the Franken-Center Nuremberg and the Hessen-Center Frankfurt. The new tenants include P&C Düsseldorf, Decathlon, Smyths Toys and Woolworth. At Main-Taunus-Zentrum, ECE has realized a completely new frequency generator with the "Food Garden" in place of the department store in the middle of the center. In Limbecker Platz Essen and Leo-Center Leonberg, former Galeria space was also successfully leased to P&C Düsseldorf, Intersport Voswinkel and Lager 157 as well as H&M and Müller.