Macarie was recruited in the first half of 2010 by businessman Octavian Radu, owner of the RTC Holding, which manages the Diverta bookstore chain and footwear retailer Aldo, among others. He had previously been the chief operating officer of shopping center Baneasa Shopping City.
In 2011, Debenhams opened a store of over 2,000 square meters in the West End shopping complex in Budapest, Hungary, as more and more international retailers are seeking to enter this market.
Macarie met with Budapest-based Trigranit Development when he negotiated the entry of Debenhams on the Hungarian market and started working for them in his new position on September 1.
Triganit’s projects on the Romanian market include shopping center Polus in Cluj (NW Romania), sold to Austria’s investment fund Immofinanz for over EUR200 million and the half-finalized Polus Constanta, sold to the same buyers and due for completion at the end of October as “Maritimo”. Its biggest project was supposed to be a development on a ten-hectare plot in downtown Bucharest, Esplanada, set to include retail and office space, which has been frozen for a number of years.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)