If MAPIC is about one thing, it is putting new retail in front of a global audience. Despite the downturn, this year was notable for new names. But should we really be surprised?, ask Mark Faithfull and Graham Parker.

Wherever you went at MAPIC 2009, there seemed to be retailers spreading their wings.

What was apparent was that, alongside the usual suspects of grocers, consumer-electrical companies and fast-fashion chains, there was a new generation of retail outfits. Many combined elements of leisure, activity and entertainment in their offer. Some, such as Chronostock (photo) — of which more in a moment — specialised in impermanence. But they all clearly reflected a shift in retail’s powerbase — and at a time of such consumer turbulence that we have perhaps forgotten one of retail’s simplest rules: that come boom or bust, the market is changing all the time.

MAPIC 2009 saw the international launch of a recession-busting format called Chronostock, which is catching on across France. Chronostock takes surplus premises from retailers on a short-term basis to create ‘pop-up’ stores selling fashion and homewares. The first branch of Chronostock traded for six weeks in a former Doreal store in Saint- Etienne, France — and such was its success that it has gone on to operate from six sites in Lyon, as well as in Avignon, Valence, Bourdeaux and Gap. Director and co-founder Edouard de Jandin said the first international branch of Chronostock is likely to be in Belgium.

The German pet supermarket retailer Fressnapf was one of a number of retailers that announced positive plans for huge expansion — in its case, targeting France and Italy.

Germany itself was the subject of a lot of talk in Cannes. Peter Gold, head of EMEA cross-border retail at CB Richard Ellis, summed it up when he said: “The UK is already saturated by international retailers. Countries such as France and Germany are seen as easier opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the fusion fashion retail offer Indiska plans to expand in northern Europe and open stores in India over the next two to three years. The Indian-influenced fashion chain, which has 85 stores in Scandinavia, was at MAPIC to look at opportunities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the UK.
Brazil’s Touch Watches made its debut at MAPIC 2009, while the US luxury ice-cream brand Cold Stone Creamery used Cannes as a springboard for its international expansion.

Cold Stone also demonstrated that success does not have to be about discounting. Eddy Jimenez, the company’s vice-president of international development and logistics, reported that the brand has 1,350 outlets in the US, but only 196 elsewhere, predominantly in the Asia Pacific region. Cold Stone opened its first European store in Denmark in 2009 and is now looking for master franchisees to take it into new territories in Europe.