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Double Dip - we told you so ...

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Mon, 14/05/2012 - 13:28

Olive trees in Thasos, Greece.We told you about it and, unfortunately,we were right.

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Double Dip .... what's up?

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Fri, 29/07/2011 - 08:50

m&m has been a bit quite for a while and now we are going to bury this in the summer hole.

Double dip Recession

You can run a search on "double dip" here on m&m using this link. What you will find is that I and we at m&m always believed that we are heading for a double dip recession. 240px-The_Great_Asset_Bubble.svg.pngIt more and more looks like we were, unfortunately, right.

The main reason to believe a double dip recession would be unavoidable is (was) based on the figures and an outlook to the future. I talked about the certainty of a recession in 2007 because it is what happens. After a boom comes a recession - as certain is few things in life.
When we were heading into the recession in late 2007 / 2008 we slowly understood the immense size of the debt build up. Well, we had been warned of the trillions piling up for years - especially in the US and in Britain. And there was the deluded, unchecked spending sprees in places from Ireland to Greece - crash landing a deceived population.

With such large debt everywhere and governments trying to cushion the harsh landing on borrowed money and time - it became clear that we will not recover easily and that this softening the blow was the start for the double dip.

Sure, the double-dip will not be the same everywhere. Some larger countries and economies like Germany and France will be hit less, though, no one is out of the woods on this.

The big Crunch .. or not?

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A recent trip to St. Petersburg ...

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Thu, 30/06/2011 - 14:37

... it had been a while that I made my way to this interesting city at the far end of the Baltic Sea. I was mid May 2011.
The recession (2008-9) hit Russia as hard, probably harder than many other countries, but we don't hear too much about it. Many international companies down-sized in Russia and some left.
Most large (commercial) construction projects stopped across Russia - with the exception of Sochi. Entrance Galeria Shopping Centre, St. Petersburg, 2011A few projects though were completed recently in St. Petersburg’s retail landscape - "Stockmann" and "Galeria" - just a stone throw apart.
I was the first architect on the project after it was restarted to help the initial clients to develop a new concept for this failed project linked to the hi-speed fiasco trying to link Moscow with St. Petersburg.

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Why do we need so many Consultants?

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Fri, 07/01/2011 - 14:23

Well, how many consultants do we need? Just one! Someone with enough experience to tell us exactly who we should hire for:

  • the design work,
  • the letting,
  • the Marketing,
  • the PR,
  • the interior design,
  • lawyers for 
    • private, commercial issues,
    • public and planning law,
    • land issues,
    • finance and taxation
  • concept advisor,
  • urban planner,
  • market researcher,
  • commercial investment adviser,
  • experts and accountants for
    • finance,
    • taxation,
    • investor relations,
  • financial controller, 
  • engineers for
    • traffic,
    • infrastructure,
    • geo technology,
    • hydrology,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • advertising agency,
  • web designer,
  • structural design,
  • acoustics,
  • building physics,
  • waste management,
  • M & E design,
  • landscape design,
  • accessibility,
  • lighting,
  • fire prevention,
  • security systems,
  • orientation,
  • special effects,
  • mall furniture and features,
  • management experts for
    • the project (PM),
    • for the centre (CM),
    • for car parking,
    • for the facility (FM),
  • tenant coordinator,
  • tenant controller, 
  • …..

 

John_Lucas.jpg

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By the time we have listed them all a day is gone. And tomorrow we have to add all the names of the directors, their dedicated project managers and their team members.

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The future of m & m

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Fri, 07/01/2011 - 12:35

Malls & More has been in beta now for some time and the full release was scheduled for late last year.

We have taken the time over the Christmas and the New Year to consider the future of m&m in detail.250px-World_line.svg.png

Taking stock of the project we have to realise that the idea of developing a professional network for people in this specific niche of the commercial real estate business has not been successful. Our formula of information and networking did not work out the way we had hoped. There are plenty of real estates sites now offering networking in addition to their publishing activities.

Our advertising budget is also not big enough and enthusiasm does not make up for that.

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Happy New Year 2011

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Fri, 07/01/2011 - 12:16

The outlook for 2011 is still mixed. Nevertheless we wish all a happy, prosperous and better Year.220px-OperaSydney-Fuegos2006-342289398.jpg

We have been discussing the economic crisis for some time now and our outlook has been rather muted all along.

There will be no quick return to the time pre-2008. The coming year 2011 will be tough with the necessary cuts by governments biting. Of course, on the other side are countries and companies sitting on a lot of cash. But where should they invest if the outlook is rather dim and uncertain in the old consumer driven economies.

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Stockmann opens store in St. Petersburg

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Verfasst von Sergey Rumyantsev am Tue, 16/11/2010 - 15:55

Stockmann unveiled their Russian flagship department store on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg opening the eyes of retailers to the hidden potential of the Russian market.

On Friday, November 12.2010, the largest department store of the Finnish retailer Stockmann opened in in Russia in St. Petersburg (20 000 square meters).

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A retailers dream or not ....

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Mon, 08/11/2010 - 20:00

The recent arrival of the Sat Nav for High Street Shopping that we predicted in the summer reminded me to take another look into the future.

What next?

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What are Consultants?

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Sun, 31/10/2010 - 18:29

A consultant is a person who looks at your watch to tell you the time.

True or false?

It is true, because a consultant only works with your project and adds to it.

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Why are Car Parking Spaces so small?

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Verfasst von Christian Cuhls am Thu, 30/09/2010 - 12:00

Yes, car parking spaces (in Europe) are too small. How are four people supposed to get out of a car when parked in a typical European car parking bay in a shopping centre? Not to mention just the driver who can never fully open the door to get in and out.
No, car parking spaces are as big as required by law; and that is big enough. The passengers are supposed to leave the car before the driver slots it into the bay.

Parking spaces in an American parking lot.These opposing views open up several important questions:

  1. How important is the size of the car parking space for a mall?
  2. What dictates the size of the car parking space of a mall?
  3. How big should the car parking bay be?
  4. What other factors are or could influence this debate?
  5. How to design car parking for a mall?

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