For French, please click :La Résilience Dans Le Commerce De Détail : Les Secrets Du Succès Du Plus Grand Exploitant De Centres Commerciaux en Turquie
For Dutch, please click: Veerkracht in de detailhandel: Het succesverhaal van Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım – de grootste winkelcentrumexploitant van Turkije
Resilience in Retail: Inside the Success of Turkey's Largest Mall Operator
For the Turkish shopping mall sector, recent years have been an almost perfect storm: macro volatility at home due to currency devaluation followed by high inflation in Turkish markets after regulation mandating the conversion of euro and U.S. dollar leases to Turkish lira in 2018, pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, and the Southern Turkey earthquake in 2023 after regulation mandating the conversion of euro and U.S. dollar leases to Turkish lira in 2018. Meanwhile, overseas, global inflation and geopolitical events have contributed to volatility, and the surge of e-commerce has rocked the retail and commercial real estate sectors at home and abroad.Commercial real estate companies, therefore, have needed resilience and adaptability— qualities best embedded in the business’s foundations. Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım (RGY), a group company of Rönesans Holding—one of Europe’s largest construction and investment firms—is a prime example. Founded in the early 2000s as part of the high-growth arm of Rönesans, RGY is now a Turkish retail real estate leader thanks to its experienced management team, high asset quality and solid shareholder base.
“The excellent reception from consumers and tenants has helped RGY become Türkiye’s largest commercial real estate platform within 15 years,” says Rönesans’s founder and honorary president, Erman Ilıcak.
At the Forefront of Change
But this wasn’t always the case. RGY completed its first shopping center in 2003, a transitional time for the Turkish market. While Turkish shoppers had been used to bazaar-style shopping, larger cities were then transitioning to international-style “big box” malls. “Launching RGY at this time made us resilient from the beginning, testing innovative and collaborative approaches to find a winning formula,” says Ilıcak. “First we built the right internal structure, with the best management team. Then we planned and defined our offer. After that, we expanded beyond the group and internationally, seeking the right partnerships.”
This led to RGY’s partnering with GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund. “GIC provided experience and best practices that we could adapt for Turkey,” Ilıcak explains, “helping us create successful shopping experiences and commercial platforms.
“As Rönesans, we harnessed our long-term construction and design expertise, creating buildings to excite consumers, attracting the most important element—the right tenant mix,” he continues. “GIC helped us improve the asset-management division to better commercialize our malls. Having two strong shareholders with a common commitment to financial discipline also helped us survive the real estate and macro cycles. Since 2012, our joint ventures with GIC have reaped the benefits of this open, international collaboration.”
At the same time, RGY hasn’t lost its focus on domestic market dynamics. Turkish consumers don’t only want to shop at malls, they also want to enjoy dining and entertainment. They’re embracing technology such as online and mobile shopping, which means that the entire sector must stay flexible, meeting change head-on. As Türkiye’s largest commercial retail platform, RGY emphasizes that strong foundations must be there from the very beginning of development. The right site selection, the right architectural concept and operational elements like the best tenant mix and hands-on asset management all play critical roles in success.
Certified Benchmark Sustainability
Resilience can also take the form of answering consumer and customer requirements like sustainability, which is central to RGY’s strategy. RGY pledged to become fully reliant on renewable energy by 2029 and, a world first, received “Outstanding” levels of BREEAM In-Use certification for 12 shopping centers and three office buildings in its portfolio. “Outstanding” is the highest-level BREEAM award, given to only 1% of certifications worldwide. As Ilıcak explains: “As we continue to move into a sustainable future, this type of resilient adaptability will remain critical, and we can help tenants reduce operating expenses and lower their emissions.”As customers continue to demand fresh experiences, the next decade promises to be equally as exciting and fast-paced, with a ripple effect across the industry. RGY’s ability to handle these challenges has already been recognized. In 2024, it was the first Rönesans company to hold an IPO, building on its successful 2018 Eurobond issuance and demonstrating the confidence of international investors and credit-rating companies.
Weathering storms requires resilience and adaptability. For RGY, this means hands-on management, financial discipline and strong shareholders, all managed by internal teams to keep the company known as the partner of choice, even in tough times.
As Ilıcak concludes: “We will keep innovating for the market, collaborating with the right partners and delivering models that fit.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal, “Resilience in Retail: Inside the Success of Turkey’s Largest Mall Operator” — https://partners.wsj.com/ronesans/inside-the-success-of-turkeys-largest-mall-operator/