"Unirea Shopping Center", first place in the sales chart

The Retail Department of "Colliers International" made a study of the sales generated in Bucharest malls which have been operating for at least six months. The study was focused on fashion shops. It shows that "Unirea Shopping Center" is the consumers" favorite. The 40000 visitors entering the trade center generate yearly average sales of 7000-10000 Euros/sqm for clothing stores, a number which in some exceptional cases can even go as high as 14000 Euros/sqm.

The second place in the chart is held by the "Bucureşti Mall" and "Plaza Romania" commercial centers which were built by "Anchor Group" in 1999, and 2004 respectively. Sales of the two centers are around 10% lower than those of "Unirea Shopping Center". When it comes to fashion brands, the malls made by "Anchor Group" see slight monthly fluctuations in the same range. Thus, both "Plaza România", and "Bucureşti Mall" see a daily turnover of 30000 - 35000 visitors, and their major tenants are basically the same.

Opened in 2005, "City Mall" currently sees 15000-17000 visitors a day, and are still in the process of redefining their targeted market segment. Sales per square meter at this location are far below those of commercial centers at the top of the chart, "Colliers""s experts show.

"Băneasa Shopping City" opened its gates in April 2008, and has succeeded in attracting 27000 visitors a day on average. Aimed at the luxury market, but having the disadvantage of being less accessible, the sales of this commercial center per square meter were 20-50% below those of "Plaza România" and "Bucureşti Mall" last year. The differences come from the retail type and the location of the brand within the commercial center. "Băneasa Shopping City" is still in its incipient stage, and once the entertainment area is launched, traffic will mostly likely increase, bringing with it an increase in sales.

Alina Toma Vereha

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"Colliers" shows that there is a pressure for lowering the rent for locations in commercial centers. Because of the drop in consumption, most retailers are experiencing drops of 20-40% in sales over last year"s similar period, which is causing them to rethink their costs.

Five commercial centers with over 120000 square meters were launched last year, leading to a 50% increase in the inventory of modern retail spaces up to 330,000 sqm. The major launches of the year were Băneasa Shopping City, Liberty Center and Fashion House.