Completely Retail Marketplace Amsterdam deemed an all-round success

Amsterdam - The atmosphere inside of Amsterdam’s Beurs van Berlage was calm and relaxed, as retailers, real estate firms and property agents from across Europe and the UK come together at the debut EU event from Completely Retail Marketplace. "It's been really good today - haven't had much time to speak to everyone because everyone been so busy, but that's exactly what we want," said Simon Millar, Director of Completely Retail Marketplace (CRMP) to FashionUnited during the event.

Taking place on September 6, the one day event mirrored its British counterpart in build-up and execution and featured Soap Box sessions for emerging retailers a debate panel on the potential effects of the Brexit . The Amsterdam event follows on from the success of CRMP events in London and Dublin, as the Completely Group's first event across the channel and brought together retailers with real estate agencies in a low-cost, simple setting developed for doing business.

Completely Retail Marketplace celebrates first event in Amsterdam

"Although I would say that there is no other event which does what we do, I think our low-cost appeal is part of what makes us so successful," admitted Millar. "Low-cost appeals to everyone and we make sure that everyone attending gets the same treatment, the same stands and space - no matter their status in the industry." CRMP even flew in the same stands and lettering used for it events in London to Amsterdam to recreate the no-frills, purely business feeling in event venue.

This laid-back approached certainly seemed to work overseas, as CRMP Amsterdam featured 30 stands from the likes of global estate agencies Savills, Wakeman & Cushfield and CBRE, as well as stands from global retailers H&M and TJX Europe, while welcoming over 200 delegates from 11 countries. When asked what the initial response was when the Completely Group first announced it plan to host a Retail Marketplace in Amsterdam, Millar highlighted the company’s key partners and investors jumped on board pretty quickly.

"Once they all understood the idea behind the event, they were quick to make a decision and take the risk - which paid off as now they all want to come back next year." Millar hinted that between 4 and 5 of the companies attending had already signed up to return the next year during the day, a positive sign. "The event certainly lived up to all my expectations - we were able to reasonably predict the visitor numbers based on previous events and I am very happy with the results."

However, the one area in which Millar aims to improve on is the attendance of retailers. "I would have liked to have attracted more retailers," he admits, adding that retailers attend for free and they offer to fly in overseas retailer for no charge but not everybody took them up on the offer. Big names such as John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Debenhams were curiously absent from the list of attending delegates. "The Brexit may have put brake on them coming over due to the uncertainty underfoot right now," mused Millar. Michel Carvis, Leasing/Expansion Manager from H&M Nederland agreed that he expected to meet more retailers.

CRMP to return to Amsterdam next year

“I was expecting more retailers to show up on the spot, not necessarily to show up with a stand like we did,” he explained to FashionUnited. However he attributed part of the lack of retailers to the slowdown in overseas expansion some retailers have adopted. “Many retailers are growing at a slower pace now.” H&M, one the expectations in retail, attended CRMP after being tipped by their UK counterpart. “We came to put H&M’s other brands in the spotlight, such as COS, Weekday, Monki...we wanted to show they are out there and looking for more space to expand. I think we succeeded,” said Carvis, adding H&M gave several presentations throughout the day and met with many brokers and agents.

TJX Europe, the company behind discount retailer TK Maxx also signed on to attend CRMP Amsterdam following it success at its events in London and Dublin. “I really like that the event is just one day,” said Scott Stevenson, VP Real Estate and Strategy, Europe, at TJX Europe. “They are extremely focused and almost communistic ic in approach but it works out very well.” He adds that they had meetings booked throughout the day and any spare time was filled with informal business enquiries. “It’s been a positive experience all round.” Like Carvis from H&M, Stevenson would be interested in attending the next CRMP Amsterdam event next year.

"It is a concept that really works - people keep coming back for more,” points out Millar. He reveals that Completely Group is planning on launching the event in Amsterdam again next year and make it twice as big, so it can eventually grow and become as strong as events in London and Dublin. "We aim to use Amsterdam as a springboard - even though there are options to grow abroad in Western Europe, our main focus at the moment is to grow here and build a presence in Amsterdam."