British firm Rioja Estates continues to work on the delivery of the giant Malmö Designer Village (MDV) project in Sweden and has announced that major global brands Levi’s, Skechers, Jack & Jones, and Marc O’Polo are among the first names to sign up to stores there.

It’s working with TORG International on the leasing of MDV and said over 30% of the outlet village leases have been signed or are in solicitors’ hands, while another 20% has financial terms agreed with other international brands. 

The village is 20 minutes’ drive from Malmö, in the Öresund region of Scandinavia, and just 50 minutes drive from Copenhagen. 

So it will be serving the cross-border catchment across Denmark and Sweden, plus a healthy tourist trade (as the recent Eurovision Song Contest with visitors from over 80 countries showed). Global tourists account for 26 million overnight stays a year within an hour of the site.

The developers say it will cater to more than twice the average catchment of the existing outlets in the Nordic region including the 3.8 million residents within 90 minutes of the location. 

Speaking of the decision by Levi’s to sign up, Hiren Sawjani, Real Estate Director for Levi Strauss & Co North said: “We continue to strive for valuable and sustainable growth, delivering quality shopping experiences for our customers across all markets.

“Opening a store at the forthcoming Malmö Designer Village, will be a positive step towards the continued growth of our brand within the Scandinavian market. Reaching such an engaged, large and varied catchment area will allow us to welcome existing and new customers to immerse themselves within the LS&Co brand experience.”

The village is targeting a BREAAM ‘Very Good’ rating with a number of sustainability initaitives. For instance, by installing ground source heat pumps, Rioja Estates will enable low-energy heat to be provided directly to each unit via heat exchangers. The ground source system will be supported by hidden solar panels on the 24,155 sq m roof. 

Giles Membrey, Managing Director of developer Rioja Estates, said: “With two years still to go until we open, it’s great to see top brands, both internationally and nationally, committing themselves to Malmö Designer Village. 

“Benefitting from a high-spend catchment, where the average purchasing power per capita is 21% greater than the European outlet industry average, Ken Gunn Consulting research projects Malmö Designer Village [will be] in the top 25% outlet centres in Europe once open.”

Rioja has developed a number of successful outlet schemes across the UK and internationally. That list includes designer outlets for McArthurGlen in the UK, at Bridgend, Swindon, York, East Midlands and, most recently, the West Midlands. Plus it worked on Premier Outlets Budapest in Hungary, as well as Alpes The Style Outlets for Neinver in France.