Though with a relatively short history, of just 15 years, the domestic shopping center industry is starting to generate managers who can take up external mandates and the case of Alin Mesea is not singular.
“I joined Sonae Sierra in 2008, as a center manager for River Plaza in Ramnicu Valcea. Four years later, in 2012, I was invited to take part in the opening of a mall in Italy, La Terrazze, with a view to my taking over the position of center manager, which I filled for one year and a half, until December 2013. Then, I took over the position of general manager for the company’s operations in Algeria,” recounts Alin Mesea.
Another Romanian manager, Alexandru Gavriliu, has run, since 2008, a shopping center located in Germany’s Kassel city, a project part of the portfolio of ECE, another major owner in the mall industry.
“What convinced me to take over this position was the challenge, the curiosity and desire to see a different business environment, and the activity on an emerging market and interaction with people of another culture, with a different professional approach also turned this experience into an appealing one,” said Mesea.
On the Algerian market, Portugal’s Sonae Sierra has a partnership with group Cevital, controlled by businessman Issad Rebrad, who, with a fortune of above $3 billion, is one of the wealthiest Algerians and the two entities have four shopping centers under management, according to data posted on the company’s website.
“The Algerian market is still in the early stages of development. Both developers and retailers are now setting the stage for what has the potential to become a large market in the near future,” says Alin Mesea.
While it entered the Romanian market more than seven years ago, Sonae Sierra has just one operational mall at present, the one of Ramnicu Valcea. However, the Portuguese company plans to open ParkLakePlaza project in 2016 in Bucharest’s Titan district. The project, with a rentable area of 70,000 square meters, is a serious challenge for any manager.
When and under what conditions should the manager return to Romania?
“My main concern is to achieve the short and medium-term objective I have here,” says Mesea.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)