Parque Dom Pedro, Latin America's largest fashion, culture and leisure center, opens tomorrow.
Sonae Imobiliária brings to Brazil an innovative concept
successful in Europe and US.
Latin America's largest fashion, culture and leisure center will open Tuesday 19 March, 2002 in Campinas (SP). With 108,000 square meters of gross leasing area (GLA) in its first stage and a total 189,000-square-meter built area, Parque Dom Pedro introduces in Brazil a new concept in super regional, theme-related, segmented and environmentally friendly shopping malls, which are also committed to the community's welfare and entertainment. ‘Parque Dom Pedro is the first shopping and leisure center fully developed by Sonae Imobiliária in Brazil and it will certainly become a national cornerstone in this type of venture', says João Pessoa Jorge, Sonae Imobiliária's administrator, responsible for the company's activities in Brazil, where he now lives.
Sonae imobiliária, one of Sonae Group's divisions (largest Portuguese non-financial private group), is a leading company in investiment, development and management of shopping and leisure centers operating in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Greece, Germany and Italy. Sonae Imobiliária holds 95% of the new mall's capital and the remaining 5% belong to Sonae Enplanta, joint venture set up at the end of 1999, shared equally by both Sonae Imobiliária and Brazilian Enplanta Engenharia. The investment was estimated in € 100 million.
Strategically bordering Dom Pedro I Road, the new development is considered a Super Regional mall, serving a 3-million-plus inhabited region, of which 1 million alone live in Campinas. It is expected that over 30 million people will visit Parque Dom Pedro in the first 12 months The estimated turnover for the stores, in the same period, is € 300 million.
Approximately € 10 million were invested by the joint venture in the creation of a road network at the km 137 on Dom Pedro I Road, facilitating access to the mall and its neighboring boroughs. The network was a result of traffic studies done in association with DERSA and the Campinas municipal administration and includes the ring road above Dom Pedro I Road donated to DERSA and Avenida Leste (Eastern Avenue) given to the municipal administration.
Parque Dom Pedro is the mall in Brazil with the most anchor stores. In its first stage it will be anchored by 13 large stores: BIG Hypermarket, two car dealers (Covenac and Alpini), hardware shop Center Líder, internationally acclaimed FNAC cultural mega store, Centauro Esportes, Spanish fashion chain of stores Zara, department stores Riachuelo and C&A (the latter opening two stores), Lojas Pernambucanas, Grupo Severiano Ribeiro with 15 Kinoplex movie theaters and Garden Center, gardening, decoration and pet outlet.
With a total 360 operations in its first stage, Parque Dom Pedro counts, besides the 13 major anchor stores, on 19 mini-anchor stores, along with 252 shops, 9 restaurants, 30 fast food stores and 37 convenience service providers. Its free parking lot can hold 8,000 vehicles - the largest in Brazil.
Several foreign brands have decided to open their first branches in Brazil through Parque Dom Pedro. As an example Polimaia in perfume and cosmetics; Gomes de Sá, Loja das Sopas e Frangos da Guia in food products. In the gourmet area, novelties such as North American Tony Roma's, specialized in meats, besides the restaurants Joe & Leo's, Barbacoa and Giovanetti, traditional in the Campinas region.
The shopping area was completely designed to offer comfort to visitors, consumers and store owners. Parque Dom Pedro is considered an intelligent building, as it is highly automated and uses innovative and environmentally friendly systems which allow the conservation of energy and the reuse of 2/3 of the water consumed in the development.
Once Parque Dom Pedro is operating, it will have created 6,000 new jobs.
Parque Dom Pedro: A new retail concept in the country
Parque Dom Pedro's grand opening starts a new stage in the Brazilian retail market. More than a shopping center, Sonae Imobiliária's development combines a series of concepts unheard of within the country before.
Coordinated by Sonae Imobiliária's architect José Quintela da Fonseca, the architectural design was implemented under the theme "Park", chosen through a survey carried out with Campinas residents. The goal is to experience the visit to the development as unique, enabling the consumer to feel as if inside an actual park.
The strong visual impact on visitors begins on the façade, which displays colorful low-relief drawings. The shopping mall's five entrances - called Flowers, Waters, Hills, Stones and Trees - give access to wide promenades interwoven by "public squares" , designed to facilitate contact between visitors and cultural events.
Inside Parque Dom Pedro all decoration elements follow the same "Park" theme and portray elements of nature. The area inside becomes lively as it displays real trees, colorful gardens, stones, ivies, sculptures and small grassy slopes. The Waters entrance, for instance, has a sculpture made from a centenarian fig tree root. Several fountains and creeks come all the way down an enormous stairway giving access to the Food Court, making up many ponds with fountains, all integrated in luxurious natural decoration.
The floors, different in each wing, use a great number of upscale materials such as carpet, Portuguese mosaic tiles, different kinds of wood, granite, ceramics and marble. Carpet was used even in more sophisticated areas of the mall. The final touch is the use of loudspeaker system in some areas, where sounds of waterfalls, wind and bird singing can be heard. Swallows - the shopping mall's symbol, in honor of the city of Campinas - decorate strategic points.
The thematic environment gets more light from domes on the roof. There are 16 skylights in all shapes and sizes that bring light to the wide, eight-meter wide by six-meter high promenades. The visit to the mall turns into a new experience meter after meter, given the diversity of its decoration.
Segmentation benefits consumer
Following the trend implemented by Sonae Imobiliária in European malls, Parque Dom Pedro brings to Brazil the concept of segmentation. The proposal is to group specialty stores together according to the category of products they offer, making shopping easier for the consumer and allowing the comparison of prices.
At Parque Dom Pedro, segmentation involves seven specialty wings: casual fashion, haute couture, sports, home and decoration, variety, food, leisure and services. These wings are located in easily identifiable areas, as they are associated to the five entrances to the development. This way, the Waters entrance gives access to the variety, food and leisure wings; Stones gives access to home and decoration; Flowers to haute couture; Hills to sport and services and Trees to casual fashion stores. Having these elements in mind, the visitor can park closer to the wing where they intend to do their shopping.
Leisure and services for all the family
Parque Dom Pedro offers all-age fun and entertainment, with varied leisure activities. Over 20% of the gross leasing area, about 21,000 square meters, is designed for fun, entertainment and culture for children, teens and adults. Amongst the options are culture mega store FNAC and a closed plaza for events.
The shopping center has a modern 15-multiplex-screen Kinoplex cinema by Grupo Severiano Ribeiro, sitting 3,800 people. The theaters offer cutting edge technology equipment, digital sound and high definition screens. Reclining seats contain headrest and glass holders.
Parque Dom Pedro also offers an area where parents can leave their children in a cozy environment to be monitored by specially trained staff. There will also be a convenience area for breastfeeding mothers and their babies, as well as special toilets for children.
The environment as a partner
In order to recreate part of the forest that dominated the region for forty years, 27,500 native trees of several species are being reforested. Of the total number of trees, 2,500 were grown along the new avenue, whilst the remaining 25,000 were grown in areas of Linear Park, along the Ribeirão das Pedras, which borders the development.
Around the mall and benefiting from this reforestation program a 1.3-kilometer sports and bike track has been built. The landscape garden project was designed by an renowned American firm and adapted to the tropical style by Brazilian professionals, who privileged the Brazilian flora. Over 400 species of palm trees, 180 of which are imperial palm trees, decorate the gardens of the shopping center. In addition, the parking lot areas are divided by varied species of all-year-round blossoming trees.
Within the mall, besides the palm trees in the central aisle, there are gardens grown directly on the floor in the promenades, besides 200 houseplants.
Intelligent building guarantees conservation
Parque Dom Pedro is the first Brazilian commercial center development that can be classified as "intelligent". The high level of computerization and automation allows the integration of all control systems - from the electrical and hydraulic networks to latest generation closed TV circuit - in a supervision station. This structure is responsible for monitoring each area in the development and also allows control of air-conditioning and lighting according to a wing's needs in every moment, improving the efficiency of the systems.
The fire detection and prevention system complies with the strictest international standards. Suction fans built in the skylights are prepared, in case of fire, to automatically remove all the smoke from inside the building, thus eliminating the risk of suffocation and facilitating evacuation.
Designed on only one story, the shopping center has skylights in all its promenades, which substantially reduce the need for artificial lighting during the day. Besides sunlight, the project takes advantage of Campinas' climate to conserve electricity through a process called enthalpy. Through the use of the smoke suction fans from the fire prevention system (also exclusive in Brazil), at the end of each day the hot air will be removed and cold air will be pumped into the mall throughout the night, conserving energy as it avoids the use of air conditioning.
The waste treatment plant, capable of processing 2,000 cubic meters per day (equivalent to a town with 15,000 inhabitants), was built by the developers and treats 100% of the water used, of which 60% will be employed in the irrigation systems, toilet flushes, cleaning and CFC-free air conditioning, one of the main substances responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer.
Modern administration
The mall's administration will be operated by Unishopping, specialized company belonging to the developers. The philosophy is the reinforced partnership between store owners and developers, counting on a modern, professional and short-staffed structure, which emphasizes innovation and efficiency.
The administration system is based on SAP database. This system allows that administration activities from the commercial center, such as accounting, receivables, human resources and payables be integrated in the central office in São Paulo, resulting in a 20% operational cost reduction when compared to other regular shopping malls.
Another innovation adopted is the outsourcing of telecommunications services via concession contracts. This system automatically redirects calls from store owners to telephone companies, thus guaranteeing lower rates. Also as part of Sonae Imobiliária's philosophy, maintenance, security and cleaning are outsourced through contracts that allow greater flexibility and productivity and consequently bringing down costs.
European leader Sonae Imobiliária bets in Brazil
Sonae Imobiliária is the leader in the development, investiment and management of shopping and leisure centers, operating in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy and Brazil.
Sonae Imobilária has been operating for 12 years, running 19 shopping and leisure centers and has another 15 projects under development. Currently, Sonae Imobiliária runs over 1.2 square meters of gross leasing area and approximately 4,000 contracts with tenants in Portugal, Spain and Brazil. Among the most famous ones are Lisbon located Centro Vasco da Gama and Centro Colombo.
In the development of new shopping center projects, the company promotes a strong team spirit among its ambitious staff, who have responded to each new challenge in an innovative way. The results have led to developments that guarantee comfort, beauty and commitment to the environment, in addition to privileged space for shopping, leisure, culture and pleasant workplace atmosphere for hundreds of staff and collaborators.
Sonae Imobiliária has been awarded internationally for the quality and innovation of its projects. It is the most recognized company in this sector, holding 6 ICSC prizes (International Council of Shopping Centers), 2 from ICSC-Las Vegas, 3 MIPIM and 1 Procos, among others.
Brazil is the chief market within Sonae Imobiliária's internalization strategy. As the company intends to set its roots here, it adopted the strategy of setting up partnerships and promoting long term investments. The € 100 million used in the construction of Parque Dom Pedro is part of the € 350 million that will be available for potential investments in Brazil in the next four years. An investment of € 30 million was announced in Shopping "Center Sul" in São Paulo, as well as a joint-venture with Jockey Club of Paraná for the development of a shopping center in Curitiba, with an investiment of € 70 million..
The partnership of Sonae Imobiliária with Enplanta Engenharia resulted in Sonae Enplanta S.A.'s participation in five malls already operating in Brazil: Penha (São Paulo); Metrópole (São Bernardo do Campo - SP); Pátio Brasil (Brasília - DF); Franca Shopping (Franca - SP) and Tívoli Shopping (Santa Bárbara d'Oeste - SP). Both the administration and sales of all malls are in charge of Unishopping Administradora Ltda. and Unishopping Consultoria Imobiliária Ltda., which belong to Sonae Enplanta S.A.
Sector grows in Brazil
According to data from Abrasce (Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers), Brazil has today 217 operating shopping malls and another 23 under construction, most of which are located in capital cities or large urban centers, totaling 5.2 square meters of gross leasing area. Abrasce still maintains that the Brazilian malls had a total revenue of R$ 23 billion year ending in 2000 and employ an estimated number of 400,000 people.
Several surveys show that the sector is far beyond saturation and they also indicate that there is an immense potential for growth. When compared to the US and Europe, consumption in shopping malls is still relatively small. North Americans do more than half of their retail purchases in shopping malls, Europeans above 40% while Brazilians account for only 18% of mall purchases.
It is in this vast consumption and growth potential scenario that Sonae Imobiliária and Sonae Enplanta believe in, hoping to be able to contribute to the sector's renovation in Brazil, just as they have done in Europe.
Parque Dom Pedro in Numbers:
