Head of Cotroceni Park: Discounts are so big that I can hardly walk through the mall without buying something

Cotroceni Park owners say the number of visitors went up inJuly from June despite the crisis and the summer period,which is not highly favourable to malls. One of the explanations: retailers' discounts are luring people to the mall. "All stores have spectacular promotions and they havetried to come up with the best offers during this period. I personally find it difficult to walk through the mall without buying things, seeing the large number of offers," says Israel Visel, Cotroceni Park shopping center manager, with a smile. The crisis is hurting retailers' sale, so that in the lack of discounts sales would be much weaker. Not all tenants afford cutting their profitability margins, though, as Cotroceni Park is viewed as an expensive mall. "13-14 stores were closed, but most are under liquidation. Around 10 have been already replaced, and we currently have around 30 available spaces. The occupancy rate has remained steady, at 95-96% of the mall area, though," says Visel. Starting autumn, the mall will add a fitness hall in the area located above Real hypermarkets, around which a new playground and a baby-sitting are will be fitted out.