Around 25 stores have been closed after 18 months of operatingin Bucharest's biggest mall - Baneasa Shopping City in northernBucharest -, but replacements were found, so the project'soccupancy rate is 97%, according to company representatives.
"We too have had tenants leaving; some of them, affected by theglobal crisis, shut down their entire store network on the Romanianmarket, and even in other countries. However, we reacted to thesigns of crisis back in late 2008, so we have only 5-6 storesavailable," Ali Ergun Ergen, CEO of Baneasa Developments andmanager of Romania's largest retail park, Baneasa, told ZF.
New tenants attracted into the project include GAP andDebenhams, two of the world's largest clothing retailers, andRomanian bookstore chain Diverta. Many stores in the mall havetheir shutters closed, but some of them display advertisements ofthe new stores to be opened.
"We have a 97% occupancy rate in Baneasa Shopping City mall,i.e. 5-6 non-rented, while other tenants will open their storessoon. From the project's opening (April 2008), around 25 tenantsleft, accounting for 10-12% of the mall's area, but they created anopportunity for other tenants to be brought in, such as GAP,Debenhams and Diverta. Their rent levels are close to the values ofthe old contracts," Ali Ergun Ergen, CEO of Baneasa Developments,which manages Baneasa retail park, the largest on the Romanianmarket, told ZF. The Baneasa business is controlled by businessmanGabriel Popoviciu.
Ergun says it is normal for up to 15% of tenants of a mall tochange in its first year in business, with a particularly largenumber of stores closed this year because of a series of retailersclosing their entire store chain.
Ergun manages an around 300-store project, which includes storesin the Feeria shopping gallery in front of the Carrefour store, aswell as IKEA, Bricostore and Mobexpert stores, with retailers'sales amounting to around 500 million euros per year.
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