MAPIC 2026 is over, and its closing figures contain two numbers that only seem contradictory at first glance. According to the organiser, nearly 3,600 delegates from 75 countries came to the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on 3 and 4 November, around 400 fewer than a year earlier. The number of retail brands, however, rose by 10 percent to around 1,000; retail, food and leisure brands now account, according to the organiser, for more than 40 percent of all participants. This MAPIC 2026 review looks at what the 31st edition of the international retail real estate fair revealed: where capital is flowing, which brands are heading for Europe, what the MAPIC Awards say about successful retail destinations and what it all means for landlords and retailers in Germany. It draws on the organiser’s closing report, trade press coverage, participants’ posts on LinkedIn and our own location database.
Key takeaways
- Figures: nearly 3,600 delegates from 75 countries, around 1,000 retail brands (up 10 percent) and 150 exhibitors. MAPIC 2025 had counted 4,000 participants.
- Mood: disciplined optimism. Capital is returning to retail but concentrating on retail parks, outlets and well-managed existing assets.
- Themes: a new Retail Parks Forum, a high street zone, expanding brands from Asia and the Americas, leisure and food as footfall drivers, refurbishment rather than new development.
- MAPIC Awards 2026: Normal, Honest Greens and Activate won the brand awards; project awards went to schemes in France, the Netherlands, Thailand and Japan. No German project made the shortlist.
- Germany: two of the three award-winning brands (Normal, Honest Greens) are not yet present in Germany, Activate has been in Berlin since August 2026; Lefties opens its first German store in Düsseldorf in early 2027.
- Next date: MAPIC 2027 takes place on 3 and 4 November 2027 in Cannes.
MAPIC 2026 review in figures: smaller but more brand-focused
The official figures describe a fair that is shrinking while strengthening its core. According to the organiser, the 2025 anniversary edition had 4,000 participants, 1,700 brand representatives and 150 exhibitors. In 2026 there were nearly 3,600 delegates and the same number of exhibitors, but 10 percent more retail brands (organiser’s closing report, 5 November 2026). Before the pandemic, more than 8,200 people travelled to Cannes for MAPIC (2019, organiser’s figure). MAPIC director Francesco Pupillo points out that retailers now make up more than 40 percent of participants, which he sees as the event’s main strength. Some participants quoted higher figures of 4,000 to 6,500 in their LinkedIn posts; the organiser’s closing report is the reference.
The shift was visible on the exhibition floor. Exhibitors included major landlords and operators such as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Klépierre, Carmila, Hammerson, Redevco, Nhood, Sonae Sierra, Ingka Centres, Landsec and VIA Outlets. Trade magazine Europe Real Estate noted less spending on stands, print material and self-promotion than in previous years – the money went into meetings rather than marketing. German retailers also use Cannes for their own international expansion: the organiser’s participant list included Douglas, Deichmann, Fielmann, Hugo Boss, Puma, adidas, Marc O’Polo, Kaufland and Lidl, with Birkenstock, L’Osteria and Schäfers Backstuben listed for the first time. MAPIC has thus completed its transformation from a showcase for new shopping centres into a leasing marketplace, as we anticipated in our MAPIC 2026 preview.
Capital is back, but it is selective
Europe Real Estate summed up the mood in Cannes as disciplined optimism rather than celebration (Europe Real Estate, 6 November 2026). Retail property is back on investors’ shopping lists, but selection criteria are stricter. According to IPE Real Assets, several speakers stressed that investors now carry out more due diligence and regard shopping centres as operational rather than passive investments. Three formats lead the way.
Retail parks: the format of the moment
For the first time, retail parks had their own Retail Parks Forum. Market data from an international advisory firm, as reported by IPE Real Assets, is clear: in the third quarter of 2026, just over €2 billion was invested in European retail parks, 91 percent more than a year earlier. In the first nine months, 52 percent of the volume came from overseas buyers, compared with a five-year average of 41 percent (as reported by IPE Real Assets, 5 November 2026). According to the organiser’s closing report, speakers at the forum nevertheless warned against two mistakes: despite their stable income, retail parks are not easy to manage, and converting them into shopping centres would undermine the very strengths of the format – flexible units and comparatively low costs for tenants.
Outlets and grocery: stable demand, little new supply
Outlet centres reported record occupancy. According to figures cited by IPE Real Assets, Europe now has 207 major outlet centres, whose turnover is expected to reach €24.4 billion in 2026 after a 5 percent increase the previous year. In Germany, VIA Outlets received final planning approval in September 2026 to extend Zweibrücken Fashion Outlet by 7,450 to around 38,920 square metres (ACROSS, September and November 2026). Grocery presented itself as a stable anchor: according to IPE Real Assets, Kaufland relies on a limited number of strategic new openings; Dominik Uhe, head of investor relationship management, pointed to artificial intelligence in its processes – tasks that used to take three days now take three hours.
Germany: signs of a floor
The assessment for Germany was cautiously positive. In the twelve months to the first quarter of 2026, prime shopping centre yields in Germany had still risen by around 0.3 percentage points; in Cannes, however, Europe Real Estate reported that the German market may have bottomed out. The figures only partly support that hope so far: according to a major market survey, around €3.2 billion was invested in German retail property in the first three quarters of 2026, a quarter less than in the same period of the previous year, with just over half going into retail warehouse and grocery-anchored assets. For the full year, €6 billion to €6.5 billion is expected, roughly the 2025 level (for context: German retail investment market Q1 2026). On the retail side, German trade journal TextilWirtschaft summed up the mood: Germany remains important, but Southern and Eastern Europe are currently the main draw (9 November 2026). Notably, MAPIC had made Germany one of its focus markets in 2024; in 2026, Munich was the only German city on the programme of the new high street stage, alongside Milan and Rome.
Tenants, not space, are in demand
The most important observation from Cannes concerns the balance of power between landlords and brands. Because hardly any new retail space is being built in Europe and international concepts arrive with concrete expansion plans, retailers were the most sought-after people at the fair, according to Europe Real Estate. The scarce asset is no longer space, but the right tenant. The German letting market confirms this: according to a major market survey, international retailers accounted for 67 percent of the retail space let in Germany in the third quarter of 2026. The organiser describes the industry’s core task accordingly: creating value in existing assets through redevelopment, extensions and a tenant mix that meets consumer expectations.
The brand list in the closing report shows where these tenants come from. Asian brands included Pop Mart, Balabala, Seoul Dining Group, Genki Sushi and MUUT; from North America and Australia came Bath & Body Works, Wendy’s, Popeyes, Wingstop, Slim Chickens, Chick-fil-A, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Arc’teryx and Anine Bing. Luxury brands such as Brunello Cucinelli, Burberry, Messika and Kering had a stronger presence than last year. Pop Mart presented its European plans in the “Meet the Brands: Asia” session; in Germany, the brand opened its fourth store on Düsseldorf’s Flingerstraße in September 2026. How Chinese brands use their stores as strategic assets is the subject of our article on China’s store offensive.
A cross-check with our location database UNIQUE ADRS, which covers 147 shopping streets in 15 European cities, shows how wide the gap in Germany still is: none of the six US restaurant brands on the list is present on the prime streets we track in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf (as of October 2026). In our experience, however, such concepts rarely look for classic high street units; they prefer high-footfall locations with seating, ventilation and long opening hours, such as stations, transport hubs or retail parks. That international brands already account for a record share of space requirements in German prime locations is shown in our analysis of international retail brands in Germany.
MAPIC Awards 2026: dwell time becomes the currency
The MAPIC Awards 2026 were presented on the evening of the first day in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals; the jury was chaired by Joanna Fisher, CEO of ECE Marketplaces. The winners:
- Most Exciting Retail: Normal, the Danish discounter for branded personal care, beauty and household products. According to Europe Real Estate, the chain has passed 1,000 stores and is expanding into Italy, Ireland, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania.
- Most Exciting Food & Beverage: Honest Greens, a Spanish fast-casual concept for fresh, healthy food that is already present in London, is opening in Paris and continues to grow in Spain and Portugal.
- Most Exciting Leisure & Entertainment: Activate, an “active gaming” concept combining sport and video games, which plans around 30 venues in France, Spain, Portugal and the Benelux countries and has also been present in Berlin since August 2026.
- Best New Development: Valvert Croix-Blanche Retail Park south of Paris by Compagnie de Phalsbourg – 65,000 square metres with a lake, 18 restaurants, padel courts and a climbing wall.
- Best Urban Regeneration: the Rembrandthof extension in Stadshart Amstelveen near Amsterdam by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which brought 15 new flagship brands to the town centre. A Special Jury Prize went to Souq7 in Jeddah by Azad Properties.
- Best Refurbishment: NEXTOPIA by Siam Piwat, which turned 15,000 square metres of Bangkok’s Siam Paragon into a “sustainable prototype city” with more than 4.2 million visitors.
- Best New Store Concept: Coach Play in Osaka, whose personalisation station has increased dwell time more than eightfold, according to the organiser.
The pattern is clear: every winning project combines shopping with food, leisure or public space, and every winning brand is built on frequent, experience-led visits. Europe Real Estate called dwell time the new currency of retail property. Only one of the three property awards went to a new development; the other two recognised the transformation and extension of existing schemes. No German project made the shortlist. One finalist in the retail category is directly relevant for Germany, though: Lefties, Inditex’s discount brand, opened its first French store at the award-winning Valvert Croix-Blanche in May 2026 and will open its first German store in early 2027 in the former Primark building on Düsseldorf’s Schadowstraße, with around 5,000 square metres over three floors.
AI on stage, community in the aisles
The conference programme ran under the theme “Developing with Intent, Growing through Influence”. Artificial intelligence featured in several sessions, from customer insight to operations. In the aisles, however, Europe Real Estate observed that conversations focused on other things: how to engage shoppers, extend dwell time and turn locations into meeting places. In the opening keynote, economist Simon French (Panmure Liberum) described consumers as resilient but still saving, and urged caution on AI: the technology reduces costs but raises questions about intellectual property and its impact on local economies and town centres.
The Leisure & Innovation Area, with operators such as Secret Cinema, IMAX, Jumpyard and Five Iron Golf, showed how central leisure and food have become. In a dialogue with students from ESSEC and London Business School, the discussion turned to what Gen Z expects from shopping centres; for panellists such as NEPI Rockcastle these are places to meet, eat and discover, not just to shop – in line with our analysis of Gen Z consumer behaviour. Aroma-Zone showed how dynamic beauty remains: the French brand aims to double its store network by 2028, a pattern we also see in the beauty expansion in German prime locations.
What MAPIC 2026 means for landlords and retailers in Germany
For landlords and asset managers
- Target the white spots. Normal and Honest Greens won brand awards, and Germany does not feature in the expansion plans described for either; Activate opened its first German venue at Mall of Berlin in August 2026 and is expanding further. Landlords with suitably sized units should approach these brands before they announce their next step.
- Prepare units for leisure and food. Ventilation, floor loads, ceiling heights, escape routes and opening hours determine whether a concept like Activate or a US restaurant brand will even consider a unit.
- Upgrade existing assets. The awards reward refurbishment over new build. Subdividing large units or converting upper floors widens the pool of potential tenants.
- Follow up quickly. In our experience, many expansion teams set their location plans for the following year in the fourth quarter. Structured re-letting with an exposé, location data and an effective rent calculation turns trade fair contacts into deals.
For retailers and expansion managers
For brands looking at Germany, two cases from around the fair show the possible routes: Lefties enters with a large flagship in a vacated unit on an established prime street, while Pop Mart grows step by step with compact stores such as its 145-square-metre shop in Düsseldorf. Both routes require a robust expansion strategy with target cities, space profile, rent budget and timeline. How much locations differ between cities is shown in our analysis of high street vacancy in Germany: on average, one in eleven shop units in the 100 high streets analysed is vacant.
Conclusion: a smaller fair, clearer signals
MAPIC 2026 was smaller than its predecessors, but its signals were all the clearer. Capital is returning to retail, albeit selectively: to retail parks, outlets and actively managed existing assets. The brands celebrated in Cannes are built on footfall and dwell time. And what is in demand is less the space than the right tenant. Landlords in Germany should therefore prepare their units so that international concepts can assess them quickly – with floor plans, technical data, the surrounding tenant mix and a realistic effective rent. MAPIC 2027 takes place on 3 and 4 November 2027; before that, the industry meets at Expo Real in Munich in October.
UNIQUE RETAIL attended both days of MAPIC in Cannes. If you have retail space to let, a property for sale or plans to expand into Germany, we are happy to continue the conversations from Cannes – a short message with your property or request is all it takes. Get in touch.
Frequently asked questions about MAPIC 2026
How many visitors did MAPIC 2026 attract?
According to the closing report by organiser RX France, nearly 3,600 delegates from 75 countries attended MAPIC in Cannes on 3 and 4 November 2026, including around 1,000 retail brands – 10 percent more than the previous year. There were 150 exhibitors. MAPIC 2025 had counted 4,000 participants.
Who won the MAPIC Awards 2026?
Normal (retail), Honest Greens (food & beverage) and Activate (leisure & entertainment) won the brand awards. Project awards went to Valvert Croix-Blanche Retail Park in France, the Rembrandthof extension in Amstelveen, NEXTOPIA in Bangkok and Coach Play in Osaka.
What were the key themes of MAPIC 2026?
Retail parks with a dedicated forum, a new high street zone, expanding brands from Asia and the Americas, leisure and food as footfall drivers, and the upgrading of existing retail destinations. The conference programme ran under the theme “Developing with Intent, Growing through Influence”.
What does MAPIC 2026 mean for the German retail market?
Investors are cautiously positive about Germany again after shopping centre yields had risen in the year to the first quarter of 2026. Two of the three award-winning brands are not yet present in Germany, and Lefties opens in Düsseldorf in early 2027. For landlords, now is the time to actively market suitable units.
When is the next MAPIC?
MAPIC 2027 takes place on 3 and 4 November 2027 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. It will be the 32nd edition of the fair.
