The Outlet Center Eben takes stock of the year. More visitors, newly opened stores and newly created jobs ensure positive growth. Looking to the future: even more shopping services, extensive cooperation with tourism partners and close collaboration with brand partners secure jobs and increase attractiveness.
Positive tourism balance and rising visitor numbers
The Outlet Center Eben can look back on a successful 2022 financial year. Tourism in Salzburgerland has picked up strongly again and is now only just below the pre-corona level. The growing number of visitors in the region and even more transit travelers are having a positive impact on the center's performance and have resulted in a significant increase in sales of +30% compared to 2021.
"Of course, the Outlet Center Eben is also benefiting from the resurgence in tourism, which, in combination with a constantly improving rental and marketing strategy, is ensuring even higher visitor numbers: for example, we were able to set new accents again with the opening of the s.Oliver brand in November and increase the overall budget for center tourism marketing in 2022. We will soon be opening more stores in order to continually optimize the brand mix in the center and continue to meet customer requirements,"
says Michael Lungkofler, center manager and shareholder of the Outlet Center Eben and adds:
"While retail sales outside the winter ski resorts are generally rather modest in the months of January and February, the Outlet Center Eben is a real visitor magnet for winter holidaymakers.
The current very high inflation also contributes to the fact that more and more customers want to save money on fashion and are very happy to take advantage of the outlet's attractive range of sports and leisure activities at reduced outlet prices all year round."
Christmas shopping at the Outlet Center Eben: visitor numbers almost doubled in December compared to the previous year.
The Outlet Center Eben was even able to increase visitor numbers by 70% in November and attract even more customers to outlet shopping in a relaxed atmosphere with its wide range of winter sports and lifestyle brands. Exclusive offers put hoteliers and hotel guests in a good mood. Outlet shopping offers a welcome bad weather program and with greatly reduced prices of 30-70%, the shopping experience is further enhanced.
"The 2023 financial year has also got off to a good start and the buying mood among holidaymakers is unabated. At the start of the year, this is reflected above all in the significantly higher frequency (+40%) compared to the previous year,"
Michael Lungkofler is delighted with the successful start.
Helmut Gruber, Managing Director of G.A. Service and cooperation partner of the Outlet Center Eben, sees the outlet as an added value for tourism in the entire region:
"Based on my many years of experience in hotel and tourism marketing, I know that there are linkage effects between outlet centers and tourism businesses in many vacation regions. We therefore see the tourism marketing of the outlet center as a special added value not only for hotel guests, but at the end of the day for tourism as a whole. Tourism marketing for our hotel and tourism partners generally focuses on marketing the destination as a holistic vacation experience. Outlet shopping as a bad-weather alternative is a must."
Regional associations and local clubs benefit from the center management's willingness to cooperate
The center management not only focuses on close cooperation with tourism partners, but also sees itself as a supporter of regional associations and clubs. Every year, selected projects are supported for a pool of cooperation partners in order to preserve and promote traditions, culture and youth projects in the region.
"Our regional premium partners include the Salzburger Landjugend and the Seniorenbund Salzburg. Locally, we support the Eben i.P. soccer club and we are happy to be able to make a contribution to promoting young talent."
says Lungkofler.
A look into the future
Despite the difficult situation on the labor market and the associated intensive search for personnel, the outlet management team has succeeded in recruiting young, motivated employees for the areas of fashion consulting and warehouse logistics through targeted measures. "We want to attract young people from the region to work at the Outlet Center Eben by offering attractive jobs with flexible working hours. Brands such as Odlo, Mustang and Luhta/Icepeak offer jobs in store management and interesting training opportunities at national and international level.
Even more new jobs will be created as a result of the expansion of the center. In cooperation with the AMS, it is planned to advertise all new positions in order to make new jobs with top-class, internationally renowned sports and lifestyle brands accessible to interested candidates.
As one of the most important regional employers in the retail sector, the Outlet Center Eben not only offers attractive jobs, but is also a magnet for day tourists, hotel guests and transit travelers.
"In order to provide even more services and offers for our customers, a number of innovations are planned. All hotel partners participating in the center tourism program can order the outlet "Shopping Passport" for their guests with even more discount promotions from the center management in order to make the shopping visit to the outlet center even more attractive for their hotel guests."
Attractive discount campaigns such as BLACK WEEK will continue to take place in the future with additional heavily reduced outlet prices to offer a very special shopping experience!
In the future, attractive discount campaigns such as BLACK WEEK will continue to take place with additional heavily reduced outlet prices to offer a very special shopping experience!
In the future, attractive discount campaigns such as BLACK WEEK will continue to take place with additional heavily reduced outlet prices to offer a very special shopping experience!
"We are also planning to build even more customer parking spaces in order to create additional alternatives at peak times during the high season and to ease the heavy traffic at the main parking lot.
We are also in close contact with a regional energy supplier to install up to eight new e-charging stations and thus offer even more charging options for e-cars along the A10 Tauern highway.
There will also be some changes to the external presentation of the center,"
says Michael Lungkofler,
"We will install a mega-banner in the entrance area to make current shopping promotions at the point of sale even more visible for transit passengers on the A10."
If you want to visit the Outlet Center Eben, plan your journey via the Tauernautobahn A10 or - even without a freeway vignette - via the Bundesstraße 99. The center is located on the A10 coming from the north, directly at the Eben Süd service station and can also be easily reached from the south at the service station via the reversing lane.
About the Outlet Center Eben
The Outlet Center Eben i.P. is located in the heart of Pongau, in Eben im Pongau, approx. 45 minutes' drive south of the Mozart city of Salzburg, conveniently located directly on the A10 Tauernautobahn. On a total area of approx. 4,500 square meters, over 30 national and international sports and lifestyle brands are currently presented in 7 stores in their own stores or in so-called multi-brand stores. Last year's collections and sample collections are on offer all year round at 30 to 70 percent less than the manufacturer's recommended retail prices.
With the gastronomy on offer at the adjacent service station and in the neighboring tourist destinations, the Outlet Center Eben stands for a very special shopping experience in the middle of one of Austria's largest tourist strongholds.
Thanks to close cooperation with the local tourism association, hotels and other leisure facilities, it is a perfect excursion destination in one of Europe's leading skiing and hiking regions.
The project was developed by R&B Immobilienverwaltungs GmbH. The center management partner is the experienced operator FOC Retail Service GmbH.
The construction and letting of phase 2 with a further 1,000 m2 of rental space is in the starting blocks. Free space is still available. More at www.outletcentereben.com
For queries and further information
Center management
Outlet Center Eben managed by FOC Retail Service GmbH
Industrial estate Gasthof Süd No. 181
5531 Eben im Pongau
info@outletcentereben.com
Press contact
FOC Retail Service GmbH
Lüneburger Straße 149
29614 Soltau
info@outletcentereben.com
