Øygarden outside of Bergen is home to what may very well be the most innovative shopping centre in Norway.
After all, the Sartor Storsenter won the Innovative Idea of the Year award at the Shopping Centre Conference for the third time. A vacant space and partnership with the Norwegian Cancer Society impressed the jury.
Read about how we actively work to continuously innovate and bring ideas to life!
"Shopping centres have to look beyond daily operations"
The Sartor Storsenter is located in an area undergoing strong population and commercial growth, and increased its turnover by 3.5% in 2021.
Centre Manager Thomas Skålnes believes that shopping centres need to look beyond daily operations in order to evolve and grow.
"Our focus is on opportunities and long-term thinking. We do our best to try out different and challenging ideas," he says.
Read more about the award-winning partnership with the Norwegian Cancer Society below.
Boosting visitor numbers and sales with creative ideas
In 2017, they collaborated with the municipality on 'Gründerparken Vest' to help create new jobs.
"Gründerparken is alive and kicking. It's created lots of new jobs and attracted new customers," says Skålnes.
They won the same award again a year later when they convinced the organisers of the World Cycling Championships to change the route to pass by the centre. This resulted in a genuine community event.
"It's important to realise that the shopping centre plays an important role in the local community. And then to think creatively about activities that bring together local residents while at the same time strengthening the centre's position and profile, and preferably also increasing visitor and sales figures in the process. It's all about taking advantage of opportunities that arise," he adds.
Read about more Thon award winners:
Raising millions for cancer research
The Sartor Storsenter has collaborated with the Norwegian Cancer Society for 12 years, during which time it has raised over NOK 6 million through different campaigns and projects.
In 2021, Marketing Director Hans Jarle Einarsen wanted to create something completely new at the centre, while at the same time taking its collaboration with the organisation to the next level.
"We sometimes have vacant spaces, so I thought, why not give the Norwegian Cancer Society the opportunity to have a pop-up to bring attention to their work?"
"Something completely new in a shopping centre context"
"The goal was to have the centre create a meaningful meeting place between customers and the Norwegian Cancer Society," explains Einarsen.
The Norwegian Cancer Society's pop-up, as the Sartor Storsenter dubbed the project, was the result of giving the organisation access to an entire shop, where it could arrange exhibits and activities and give team members and volunteers the possibility to talk to customers about the cause.
"This was also a great way to show Sartor's commitment to society. This is something completely new in a shopping centre context," he adds.
International recognition
The Sartor Storsenter has received excellent feedback on the project and the Norwegian Cancer Society has registered 122 new members.
"They've now established a similar pop-up at another shopping centre. We're also received great feedback from their sister organisations in Denmark and the U.S., among other places," says Einarsen.
Thomas Rønning, director of the shopping centre division in the Thon Group, says this is a great example of a unique way to develop a shopping centre.
"It's an excellent use of a vacant space and the way they took this partnership to the next level is very impressive."
Several nominations and winners at Thon
The Thon Group enjoyed several nominations and awards at this year's Shopping Centre Conference.
The winners will advance to the Nordic Finals in Stockholm in October.
Einarsen at the Sartor Storsenter looks forward to competing among the best shopping centres in the Nordic countries.
"We're born optimists! Seeing this idea spread across the world makes clear how internationally appealing it really is. So, we can't help but win," concludes a confident marketing director.
