Centrum Chodov mall will get a new name in September, and host celebrity events

Centrum Chodov in Prague 4 will be rebranded as Westfield Chodov as of September, due the merger of its Dutch and French–based owner Unibail-Rodamco with Australian-based Westfield Corporation.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), as the combined owner is now called, recently announced the Westfield brand would be launched on continental European market. The brand is already present in the UK.

The Chodov mall will
become the first Westfield-branded shopping center in the Czech
Republic, and will be one of 10 flagship stores in Europe. Seven
others will be in France, plus one in Warsaw and one in Stockholm.
Two new branded malls are planned for The Hague and Hamburg.

A marketing and
advertising campaign, using cinema, TV, print and social media, will
be launched in September 2019 to support the introduction of the
Westfield brand in all the new markets.

“As the only
global brand in the industry, the introduction of Westfield will
enhance the value and positioning of our destinations across
Continental Europe. Supported by global marketing campaigns, it will
make the centers a venue for spectacular events, while delivering
significant benefits to our visitors and providing an international
platform for retailers to enter new markets,” Christophe Cuvillier,
Group CEO of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said in a press release. The
roll-out of the Westfield brand will continue in 2020 and ’21.

The flagship malls
share a number of characteristics, according to URW: they are already
recognized destinations, with easy access, distinctive architectural
and design features, an optimal mix of retailers, best-inclass
customer services, an emotional and experiential dimension, the
ability to offer iconic events and entertainment, and a best-in-class
approach in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

URW also owns malls
in Prague at Zličín and Černý Most, but those are not being
rebranded at this time. The mall operator also wants to build another
mall near the Vltavská metro station.

Westfield uses big
celebrity events to attract people to its malls. Centrum Chodov has
also already used this strategy, with an appearance by actor Bill
Nighy, a star of the holiday film Love Actually, coming to launch the
Christmas shopping season in 2018.

Internationally,
Westfield has had artists such as Lady Gaga, Rita Ora, Rihanna and
John Legend in its malls in the US and the UK. The malls have also
hosted world or European premieres for films such as The Nutcracker
and the Four Realms, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Big events will be
organized throughout Europe to celebrate the introduction of the
Westfield brand, and regularly thereafter, according to the URW press
release.

“Westfield is
famous for providing outstanding experiences for its visitors, from a
very broad range of retailers and high-quality services to concerts
and events. As there is a growing trend of customers wanting
experiences from physical shopping, now is the perfect time to
introduce the Westfield brand across UnibailRodamco-Westfield’s
flagship destinations,” the URW press release stated.

Paris-based
commercial real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is the
product of several mergers and acquisitions. French firm Unibail,
founded in 1968, and Dutch-based Rodamco Europe, founded in 1999,
merged in 2007 to make Unibail-Rodamco. That company merged with the
Australian-based shopping mall operator Westfield Corporation, with
assets in the US and UK, in June 2018.