Olivier DAUVERS,
Editor in chief "La Tribune Grande Conso"

Alain Salzmann, elected MAGNUS 2007 Man of the Year, is president of Marques Avenue (7 operations, including one which is about to open in Bordeaux in two weeks time). What lessons can we learn from the success of brand centres, what are the fundamental elements of this success? How can we theorise this success without claiming that all brand centres work well?

Alain SALZMAN
The formula started in France in 1985, with Usine Center and A L’usine. Twenty years later, we are at a stage where centres have been constructed but more than half of them have disappeared. In spite of the patent success of the concept over the last 10 to 12 years, we must remember that this has been a difficult experience. The centres which rapidly disappeared between 1985 and 1990 had probably neglected the essentials. Our debates have been useful in enabling us to recognise what is important. We rely on the consumer for our living, so it is important to listen to what he or she wants – brand names and good prices. Whenever we get away from this basic premise, things go wrong.

Olivier DAUVERS
Everyone agrees on this. Where there are differences of opinion is on whether or not to include anything other than brand names

Alain SALZMAN
What is important is the content, the commitment to the consumer. The rest is a question of aesthetics, the "shell". Once we meet our commitment, what do we provide in addition, as an extra? There are opposing ideas on this. At Marques Avenue, we consider that the consumer comes to our centres for the brand names and because of the low prices, and that although the experience must be a pleasant one, we should not go overboard on this aspect. The centres must be pleasing to the senses, light, spacious, bright… Marques Avenue called upon the services of Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the renowned minimalist architect who specialises in large spaces, which is consistent with our concept. We are somewhat surprised at this trend of moving from the factory outlet centre to the brand centre and from the brand centre to the theme park. This is not our role. By the same token, it is not the brand centres’ role to reinvent the town. When we work with town, municipality or regional authorities, we are careful to ensure that our commercial facilities are in synergy with the towns and they are never ’stand-alone’. Our duty to the towns and regions is to ensure a successful frequentation rate, we cannot add to that restaurant facilities, hotels and theme parks…. it’s too much! We must set up our centres close to towns so that the high street shops and the brand centres operate in resonance, that is Marques Avenue’s position.

Olivier DAUVERS
That is a lot, but it brings us back to the consumer experience as explained yesterday, the emotion experience. The latest projects aim to provide the consumer with possibilities other than shopping, to have a real emotive experience.

Alain SALZMAN
Emotion is a common notion in trading. We have taken on a commitment with respect to the regions and also with manufacturers. Marques Avenue was founded to cope with the issue of overstock management, to maintain a sustainable balance with the players in a region, and we must make sure that we do not stray too much from this role.

Olivier DAUVERS
Low price, cut price, sale price, unlabelled designer item - do not all these themselves have an emotive factor? You just have to look at the first day of the sales in factory outlets and in the shops in general to see that, with or without decorum, emotion is stimulated first and foremost by the prince on the label.

Alain SALZMAN
It is true, when it there is a major designer brand, emotion is high. We have signed a partnership agreement with the Hugo Boss retail group. Eight hundred square metres of Hugo Boss items sold 50 % cheaper than the standard shopping-centre price, that is worth all the big wheels in the world planted in a car-park! Let us not forget the customer comes for that. It is important that towns and regions are aware of this and that everyone benefits from the presence of the consumer, whilst making a commitment and keeping to it.

Olivier DAUVERS
This trend for the retail industry to move more towards entertainment, to go up-market in terms of the shell, but also the content, is this not a way of attracting the last reluctant brands to embrace your concept? There are still some brands that do not follow the excess stock path. Do these high-quality projects not incite them to join you?

Alain SALZMAN
Major, high-quality projects attract certain brands. For others, the effect is the reverse; these are brands who want their excess stock to be sold off discretely, soberly but not without elegance. What we are promoting is compatible with this idea, because it is a form of marketing that is consistent with the commitment made to the brand names. As we said yesterday, Weston chose to de-stock at Marques Avenue at Ile Saint-Denis in the former Galeries warehouses. This brand name would not have chosen a site at Neuilly, for example. Neuilly had to be kept for their flagship store. Everything that is done today is generally done well, we are professionals, I am not worried by what I see, what worries me is what deviations might be introduced.