Executive Summary
A comparative analysis of 100 German high streets reveals a significant trend reversal: while city-center shopping malls continue to decline, traditional high streets are stabilizing—and showing early signs of recovery. The Highstreet Report 2025, now in its sixth iteration, provides a differentiated assessment of retail viability. For property owners, investors, and retailers, this data signals a critical shift in where retail investment should flow.
100 High Streets in Focus: Methodology and Data Foundation
The Highstreet Report 2025 has refined its sample from 141 to 100 German cities, deliberately concentrating on the most commercially significant retail locations. Selection criteria include a minimum population of 70,000 residents, supplemented by nine smaller cities with supraregional retail relevance.
Scoring System: Top, Mid, and Low Performers Compared
The 100 high streets are evaluated using a multidimensional scoring model. Assessment criteria include:
- Total number of retail outlets
- Proportion of national and international retail chains
- Gastronomy sector share
- Vacancy rates
- Tenant mix diversity
Top Performers (e.g., Munich, Hamburg, Düsseldorf): High degree of internationalization, diversified tenant mix, low vacancy rates, strong gastronomy presence.
Mid-Tier Performers (e.g., Hanover, Nuremberg, Leipzig): Stabilizing retail numbers, growing gastronomy sector share, selective demand from international brands.
Lower Performers (e.g., Kaiserslautern, Oberhausen, Wuppertal): Higher vacancy rates, dominance of local operators, lower internationalization levels.
High Streets vs. Shopping Centers: The Gap Widens
The report’s most striking trend: retail outlet numbers in city-center shopping malls have declined by 15.7% since 2020. By contrast, high street locations show only a 0.7% decline—effectively a stabilization. In mid-tier cities, the disparity is even more pronounced: shopping center outlets dropped 22.5% since 2020, while high street retail actually increased by 6.2%.
Gastronomy and Experience: The New Growth Engine
Gastronomy now accounts for nearly 40% of high street retail space—a dramatic reallocation from product-focused retail. This represents a strategic shift toward experiential commerce and social gathering spaces.
Internationalization: New Brands Discover German Secondary Markets
International retail chains—particularly in food and beverage—are increasingly targeting German secondary cities (B-level markets). The report documents new entries by international F&B concepts previously concentrated in top-tier locations. However, the share of national retail chains has slightly declined to 27.1%, reflecting the growing competitive pressure on traditional German retail operators.
From Monoculture to Experience Spaces
The era of monofunctional high streets—dominated by fashion chains and shoe retailers—has ended. Successful retail streets of the future are multifunctional spaces that integrate culture and arts, artisanal crafts, gastronomy and café culture, co-working and office space, residential units, pop-up and temporary retail, and social gathering spaces.
Investment Perspective and Market Outlook
Yield Analysis: Top-tier locations offer gross yields of 3.70–3.90% on commercial properties, with compression potential in strong markets.
Key Finding: High streets are not simply more resilient than shopping centers—they are demonstrably more investable. The data supports a long-term thesis that traditional retail streets, with proper mixed-use repositioning, offer superior risk-adjusted returns compared to aging shopping mall infrastructure.
Conclusion
The 2025 Highstreet Report provides empirical evidence of a market inflection point. Traditional high streets are reasserting their role as the primary retail and social infrastructure in German cities. For investors seeking exposure to European retail real estate, the message is clear: location diversity and mixed-use flexibility trump mono-functional enclosed environments.
About UNIQUE RETAIL: This analysis is part of the Highstreet Report 2025, an ongoing benchmark study of German retail real estate performance.
