Grand Arena seeks to attract customers by opening auto centre in the mall

The developers of Grand Arena shopping centre in the south of Bucharest have "responded" to competitors such as Sun Plaza mall by setting up new play areas for children, opening of a servicing and spare parts centre for cars - Norauto, and by accommodating the second Decathlon sports equipment store in Bucharest, set to open on December 7th.

The southern area of Bucharest, around the Berceni district, is the most competitive one as far as shopping centres are concerned. After the opening of City Mall and of the Vitantis shopping centre, 2009 saw the inauguration of the Grand Arena project, with EMCT and Sparkassen opening the Sun Plaza mall in February this year, the biggest mall in the area, regarded by consultants as the top project in southern Bucharest.
However, the French who control Grand Arena found resources to attract new tenants, with Norauto and Decathlon being two French brands in full expansion on the Romanian market.
"It is unusual for us to open in a mall, but I'm sure we will post good sales, at least as far as tyres are concerned," said representatives of Norauto, who on Friday opened their third centre in Bucharest, after the ones in the car park of the Carrefour hypermarket in Militari and in Titan's Iris shopping centre.