IKEA, the Swedish furniture retailer that arrived on the Romanian market last spring, will next year open its first store in Iasi, in Era Shopping Park, which is still under construction.
The contract between the developer and retailer will be finalised soon, for a store with a built area of 24,000 square metres, real estate sources told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
IKEA announced it planned to open six stores in Romania on the medium term, but would not specify the location of a second store after last March IKEA opened its first domestic store in Baneasa, Bucharest. In its very first year in Romania, IKEA has become a leading player on the furniture market, after the company posted sales worth 87 million euros during the first nine months, which accounts for a market share of around 8 percent.
The new Era Shopping Park will also house a Mobexpert store, as does the Baneasa project in northern Bucharest.
"We know Iasi is one of IKEA's target cities. However, at this moment we cannot either confirm or deny the presence of IKEA in Era Shopping Park project," stated Nicolae Danciu, general manager of Omilos Group, the company in charge of Ermes Holding, the developer of ERA project in Iasi.
Contacted by ZF, IKEA representatives stated that nothing had been settled, and the information could not be confirmed.
The first phase of ERA Shopping Park will be finalised in autumn and will include a Carrefour hypermarket, a shopping gallery, a Praktiker store, and a Media Galaxy store. During the second phase of the project, a 35,000 square metre mall is planned, as well as a Mobexpert store and another three medium and large stores. The second phase is expected to be completed next summer.
The entire project will house an overall lettable area of 77,000 square metres and involve investments worth above 100 million euros.
Iasi is one of the most commercially developed cities in Romania, with three shopping centres, namely Iulius Mall, Moldova Mall and Felicia Shopping Center already open.
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