Shopping malls and the retail brands they host are sometimes perceived as being on opposite sides of the table — especially during conversations about rent increases.Yet, in reality, they are deeply interconnected structures that cannot exist without one another. Each relies on the other to sustain its success.
Since the early 2000s, the rapid expansion of shopping centres across Turkey has fueled the growth of the retail sector, helping it reach today’s impressive scale. However, malls have also often been placed at the center of discussions about rising rents. The real question is: how fair — or even logical — is that perception?
In retail industry, success and failure are often judged purely by numbers — profit and loss. Within that narrow view, rent reduction tends to stand out as the most immediate lever for improving performance.
Negotiating a rent discount, especially through good relationships with shopping centre owners, can indeed bring short-term relief to a brand’s profitability. But focusing solely on that approach overlooks a crucial factor: operational efficiency and the creation of a sustainable business structure are just as vital to long-term success.
The issue isn’t about who’s right or wrong — shopping centre owners or tenants — but rather about how shopping centres, operating in an unpredictable economy with constant currency risks, have managed to remain resilient.
Despite taking on considerable financial risks, many shopping centres have maintained open communication with the industry and, especially, with their tenants. Over time, leveraging their strong organizational frameworks, malls have developed the ability to develop both short- and long-term solutions that protect brands while keeping their own assets viable. In doing so, they have evolved into sustainable and adaptable business ecosystems.
After 2016, as many retail brands faced difficulties on high streets, the picture became even more evident.
Without an organized structure, brands often found themselves negotiating directly with individual property owners who lacked retail expertise. Unable to find common ground, some were forced to close stores they had opened with substantial investment behind them. Others, displaced by urban redevelopment, couldn’t relocate because landlords pushed rents to increasingly unaffordable levels, taking advantage of the limited supply.
Meanwhile, in shopping malls, these same brands dealt with far more professional, data-driven property owners. Thanks to constructive dialogue, both sides were able to put in place temporary or permanent solutions — enabling brands to retain their key stores that served as major profit centers.
This collaborative approach paid off. When consumer confidence rebounded after the pandemic and deferred spending re-entered the economy, brands quickly regained momentum.
Their stores in shopping centres — maintained during the challenging period — began generating high revenues through increasing sales performance once again. This helped brands recover pandemic losses, reconnect rapidly with their customers, and maintain their market presence through their extensive retail networks.
Shopping centes have long played a vital role in the growth of Turkey’s retail sector.
In the post-pandemic recovery period, malls once again proved their importance — acting as pillars of support and strong partners for brands.T heir ability to adapt, communicate, and support tenants was key to the sector’s rapid rebound in both revenues and profitability.