The project located in the Rahova district was inaugurated in the fall of 2008, right at the onset of the crisis, and was 100% rented. Liberty Center has lost other tenants over time such as Starbucks and Diverta, while the only restaurant still in operation on one side of the food court area is Pizza Hut.
Three years and a half after Liberty Center’s opening, many of the major tenants are still there, such as Billa, Altex, Hervis, Sprider Stores, Reserved and The Light cinema, even though the project is located in one of the poorest areas in Bucharest. At the same time, the Next store by the entrance visibly shrank and is now selling only kids products.
Marks & Spencer in Liberty Center, one of the largest in this mall was operated by Greek-held Marks & Spencer Marinopoulos Romania, where the British retailer owns 50% as of 2008. Marinopoulos also operates the Starbucks coffee shop network on the local market, with the coffee shop in the Liberty Center closed after one year in business, in 2009.
Marinopoulos officials did not provide any information about the reasons why the store in the Liberty Center was closed.
An ad in the window of the space previously occupied by Marks & Spencer says that an Eponge Fashion Paris store is due to open there. The brand is owned by the Mihet family via Corssa, a company that went insolvent early this year.
An apparel store in the Liberty Center, of the German brand Forever 18, operated by a company of businessman Octavian Radu in Romania has been closed for weeks. The German company’s website says there is no store operational in Romania any longer.
As for the food court, the Burger King restaurant ceased operations early this year. McDonald’s and KFC operate restaurants in the mall, though, and a new, Chinese restaurant, Wok Away, has recently opened for business there.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)