German mail order pioneer Werner Otto set up a new venture back in 1965 as a means to prevent real estate issues interfering with his thriving core business. Fifty years later the Otto family's main business is ECE, one of Europe's leading shopping centre specialists with 鈧�27 bn of assets under management and a further 鈧�3.5 bn of projects in the planning or construction phase.
German mail order pioneer Werner Otto set up a new venture back in 1965 as a means to prevent real estate issues interfering with his thriving core business. Fifty years later the Otto family's main business is ECE, one of Europe's leading shopping centre specialists with 鈧�27 bn of assets under management and a further 鈧�3.5 bn of projects in the planning or construction phase.
Notwithstanding the initial goal for the real estate company, Werner Otto brought the modern shopping centre concept from the US to Germany at the end of the 1960s. The new company, operating under the name Einkaufs-Center-Entwicklungsgesellschaft (Shopping Center Development Company), first opened Franken-Center in Nuremberg in 1969.
Now, Hamburg-based ECE is a European market leader in the field of inner-city shopping centres with almost 200 centres under management and activities in 16 countries and is also a major developer of other commercial properties. More than 3,500 people work for ECE across Europe, 1,300 of them in Hamburg alone.
Alexander Otto, the youngest son of founder Werner Otto who took over the helm as CEO of ECE in 2000, has driven the expansion into other European markets. 'My father really hit the mark by transferring the concept of modern shopping centres from the US to Germany. I am proud of the outstanding achievements of ECE in the past 50 years. As market leader we are well-positioned in the industry and we are looking forward to the next 50 years,' he said.
ECE is hosting a reception for its business partners on 23 January to mark the anniversary. A family party for ECE鈥檚 staff is scheduled for the summer.
