Loss of attractiveness
“The only time we had a drop in commercial vacancy was at the time of Covidexplains Jean-Luc Calonger, president of the amcv. And just afterwards, when we saw a lot of new independent traders arriving in city centers, some stopped relatively quickly. Signs have also disappeared.” This increase in the rate of empty cells is not trivial since it causes “a loss of attractiveness compared to the periphery“.
Verviers remains by far the Walloon champion of commercial vacancy (44.2%), ahead of Charleroi (29.6%), Mouscron and Couvin (29.3%). “It is a city which had a very extensive, very powerful city center, pointe Jean-Luc Calonger. And little by little, there were empty cells and therefore commercial concentration weakened. With a rate of 44%, it is no longer a problem of commerce, but of town planning: commerce is now found elsewhere.“
Renewed activity in the city center
The amcv also looked into the case of ‘highstreets’, the hypercenter of large cities supposed to generate the most attractiveness. And the situation is different there since Namur, Mons and Arlon each recorded a drop in commercial vacancy in their hypercenter compared to 2023. Just like Liège (-6.1% in one year), of which 30.3% of cells remain however vacant.
The hypercenters of Charleroi (+ 5%) and La Louvière (10.6%) were, however, somewhat deserted by businesses. Just like in Verviers (+ 8.7%), where almost half of the cells are now orphaned by commercial activity (46.7%).
Horeca replaces shopping
Another striking fact: shopping (personal and home equipment businesses) is deserting Walloon city centers. While it represented 30.2% of businesses in 2015, this rate is in constant decline and peaks at 22.1% in 2024.This is a trend throughout Wallonia“, confirms Jean-Luc Calonger. Most of the companies that file for bankruptcy or go into legal protection are in this sector.”
Conversely, local shops are a little more established as the most represented in the city center (43.3%), while the hospitality sector (26.9%) is slowly replacing shopping shops. “Moreover, we see more and more snacking, small restaurantsnotes Jean-Luc Calonger. On average, Walloon city centers are losing the shopping side and replacing it with local commerce and café restaurants.”
“Namur remains a city with very strong attractive and commercial potential“
Among the large Walloon cities, Namur stands out for the attractiveness of rue de Fer and rue de l’Ange, which form its hypercenter: commercial vacancy there is only 10.6%, “what can be considered a normal rotation in a city center” according to Jean-Luc Calonger, president of the Association of Town Center Management (amcv). The hypercenter of Arlon, second in the ranking, has a vacancy rate of 17.5%.
More broadly, “Namur remains a city with very strong attractive and commercial potential, which a long resisted outlying businesses and maintained relatively low commercial vacancy rates“Recently, the arrival of a new type of merchant has revitalized the city’s commercial activity.”Rue des Brasseurs, rue des Carmes, new generation merchants work both digitally and physically. They have a very strong appeal without large consumption, and therefore do not need many customers to operate the commercial activity of the city center and the quality of the walk in the city.“
Gembloux, the opposite case
Absent from the amcv panel, the City of Gembloux still wanted to measure itself against the cities analyzed. And the results are not good for the city center of the Cité des Couteliers. Only Verviers (44.2%, compared to 39 for Gembloux) recorded a higher commercial vacancy rate.
“It’s almost mechanical, Gembloux being the champion of the development of commerce outside the cityunderlines Jean-Luc Calonger. The growth in commercial vacancy there is really very, very marked.“Also absent from the panel, Fleurus (38.4%) completes the podium of city centers analyzed with the highest proportion of empty cells.
-Waterloo, dreary plain? Not its city center
According to Cédric Tumelaire, Waterloo Commerce alderman (MR), the diversity of businesses increases the attractiveness of the city center.
In addition to Louvain-la-Neuve, galvanized by the L’Esplanade shopping center, the City of Waterloo stands out as an excellent student in the report from the Association of City Center Management (amcv). Among the cities analyzed, the Brabant municipality is second in terms of concentration of commercial offer. It also has the best record in terms of commercial vacancy: only 7.3% of the cells in its urban core are empty.
All with a particularity: while shopping (personal and home equipment) only represents 22.1% of city center businesses in Wallonia, it takes up the lion’s share in Waterloo with a rate of 42.7%, far ahead of local shops (29.1%) and catering (21.2%). Cédric Tumelaire, alderman for Commerce in Waterloo (MR), answers our questions.
How can we explain the good commercial health of the city center?
In Waterloo, commerce is relatively concentrated in the city center. We didn’t go and put a large shopping center outside. The dynamics of Brussels are complicated and mean that Brussels customers prefer to come to Waterloo. And we have a city center manager who is super dynamic in introducing people to the city’s businesses, especially on social networks. But Waterloo is not the goose that lays the golden eggs: the City helps, of course, but the merchant must take initiatives to retain its customers.
Don’t you also benefit from the purchasing power of the region’s inhabitants, which is quite high on average?
Certainly, but businesses are adapting and there is something for all budgets. You can eat a pita like going to a restaurant which is at Gault & Millau. The good thing about Waterloo is that there is a mix of businesses. The offer is diversified.
42.7% of businesses remain dedicated to shopping, going against the trend in Wallonia. Is it a will?
This is what my city center manager told me: we absolutely must keep these stores where we go to stroll and take our time. Everything related to home decoration and clothing works well. But we need diversity, which allows it to work best. We have also managed to keep the sizes of businesses which are different.
