Guido Pärnits: retail has come out of its vegetable state

Guido Pärnits, Director of Ülemiste Centre, takes a positive view of the results for the second quarter of 2026: turnover rose in Q2, consumers have returned to the shops and the first results for July are exceeding expectations too. But the start of the year was a disappointment and there are still challenges ahead. 

While in the first quarter of the year the rise in energy prices swallowed up the positive effect of the income tax reform and people chose saving over spending, in the second quarter their behaviour changed noticeably.   

“The second quarter was so strong that turnover for the whole half-year grew by 1.5 per cent compared with last year,” Pärnits said. “Retail has finally come out of its so-called vegetating vegetable state. People are going to the shops again and they dare to spend. Fortunately, that fear of what tomorrow might bring is no longer in the air.” 

The biggest risers in sales figures over the half-year were clothing and electronics, which after food are the two largest product groups at Ülemiste Centre. The entertainment sector as a whole has also done well – restaurants, cafés, the cinema and the children’s play areas all gained ground precisely in Q2. Slightly unexpected against this backdrop is people’s cooler interest in sporting goods.  

One reason retail has picked up, Pärnits believes, is that the myth has been broken that the construction works on the Rail Baltica main terminal make Ülemiste Centre hard to reach. “On Tuesday, 21 July, for example, when work on the site was in full swing, a total of more than 25,000 people came to our centre. That is the sort of number we usually see on Saturdays,” said the centre’s director. “It proves that getting to Ülemiste is in fact just as convenient as before. There were greater fears at the beginning, but by now people have seen with their own eyes that they were overblown.” 

July’s unexpectedly high turnover figures are in turn explained by the poorer weather, which brings both shoppers and those looking for entertainment into the centre, from children to pensioners. “I wanted to go and see The Odyssey at our own Apollo Kino, but every screening was sold out,” said Pärnits.  

These signs make it possible to forecast more boldly that the end of the summer and the whole of Q3 will be more optimistic for retail as a whole than a year ago. “If 2024 was generally poor for retailers and 2025 was very poor, then this year you could say that things are going well rather than badly. Every sign shows that life in Estonia is moving on, and retail is moving on with it,” Guido Pärnits believes.  

Ülemiste Centre is Estonia’s largest shopping and entertainment centre, with more than 200 shops and service points. The centre is owned and developed by Linstow AS, the leading real estate developer in Norway and the Baltic states.