Faced with the ever-increasing growth of online sales platforms, businesses are adapting. The Signy shopping center, near Nyon, has just had a facelift. To make the difference, he focuses, like others, on leisure and local offerings.
Trade in the Lake Geneva region is under severe pressure. The strength of the franc is further pushing French-speaking consumers towards online shopping and shopping tourism, particularly in the clothing sector.
In city centers, retailers face high rents, but competition is just as tough for the sixty shopping centers in French-speaking Switzerland. The choice was therefore made to focus on gastronomy, health services and local offerings in order to increasingly combine shopping and leisure.
The director of the newly renovated Signy center, Guillaume Teboul, explains his strategy. “We are a place that creates social interaction, unlike e-commerce. We created a play area for children, because that was lacking. We create this kind of infrastructure so that families feel good there and come,” he says on La Matinale on Friday.
Attendance up slightly
The UBS real estate fund, owner of this shopping center, estimated that it had enough of a future to invest 35 million francs there. But renovating is not enough. Brands – particularly fashion brands – remain central.
It is in fact their presence that creates crowds in a shopping center. A paradox given that the fashion sector is the most affected by e-commerce.
In 2025, attendance at the Signy Center increased by 2 to 3% despite the work. A timid improvement also noted in other shopping centers in French-speaking Switzerland.
Virginie Langerock / juma
