“We have EUR670 million investments in the pipeline, of which Promenada Craiova accounts for EUR125 million,” said Rüdiger Dany, CEO of NEPI Rockcastle, the largest mall developer and owner in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe.
Although times are not easy considering the economy, retail wants to come to Craiova, which is why NEPI expanded the initial retail area to a plot that had initially been set aside for residential development, the official added.
Promenada Craiova is the second mall in the city, after Electroputere Parc, which opened in 2011 and has been held by current owner Catinvest since 2016.
Romania is growing faster than the European average and the retail area per capita in Craiova is below the average of a 300,000-people city, NEPI Rockcastle CEO said.
The anchors will include Carrefour, which opens its first hypermarket in Craiova and will use 8,000 square meters for it, the same as in Mega Mall in Bucharest. Another major tenant is Inditex, owner of Zara. It will come to Craiova with a new brand, Lefties, for the first time in the entire Central and Eastern Europe.
The shopping area of Promenada Craiova will be 78,500 square meters, of which the new shopping center, which includes a retail park will take up 62,500 square meters and the Dedeman store 16,000 square meters.
Stores in Promenada Craiova will include Peek & Cloppenburg, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Under Armour, Enzo Bertini, Mohito, iStyle, technology retailers, Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)