Colosseum Mall, a new commercial retail project for Bucharest, will now open to the general public next Spring. The opening previously planned for the end of this year has been postponed due to the actual context of the accelerated increase in the incidence of the new coronavirus infection rate in Bucharest and throughout the country, but also to the restrictive measures imposed by emergency law responses.
Mihai Dinu, General Manager of Colosseum Mall, said: “The expansion of Colosseum Mall brings a new breath on the retail market in Bucharest, which has been facing challenges, in the unpredictable and long-term pandemic context. Even under these difficult circumstances, this form of offline retail demonstrates resilience and a high degree of adaptability, the performance of Colosseum Mall being largely due to the loyalty of its customers, whom, in this way, we would like to thank but also to the tenacity of the local team.
Challenges are opportunities to us, which we thus turn into a solid portfolio of brands that we are very proud of. Although the advanced stage of construction would have allowed us to inaugurate the new spaces before the end of this year, the extremely high incidence of the infection rate with the new coronavirus in the capital and the whole country, determined us to adopt a responsible attitude and head for the spring of 2022. This decision was appreciated by all our retail segments’ partners.”
This first stage of expanding the mall will integrate a unique mix of local and international brands in the categories of goods and services, leisure and entertainment, fashion and clothing accessories.
The brands present at Colosseum Mall, namely Carrefour, Altex, Jysk, Pepco, LC Waikiki, Sport Vision and Leroy Merlin, will be joined by Sinsay, a Polish group LPP’s brand which will open the largest store in Romania, in Colosseum Mall. Other brands include New Yorker, Deichmann, CCC, Happy Cinema, Stay Fit, 4F, Teilor, Douglas, English Home, Ac & Co, Colin’s, Smyk All for Kids, Noriel, Mumuso, Optiblu, Helpnet, Flori Vesele, Magic Casino, Superbet Premium Store, KFC, Dristor Kebab, Zodiac Café, Presto Restaurant, Noodle Pack, Bulteți Ardelenești, Mesopotamia, All For Six, La Galleria, Inmedio and others.
The Colosseum Mall’s expansion will integrate a unique food court concept, designed to respond to changes in consumer behaviour in the context of the pandemic, who is now willing to spend more time outdoors or in well-ventilated areas. Thus, a large part of the food court retailers will own terraces, while the meal will be served both indoors and outdoors. The outdoor area will include a garden of over 2,000 square meters and is designed to accommodate food trucks, children playgrounds and recreational activities suitable for any season.
The expansion process also aims to increase the parking lot capacity of the Colosseum shopping centre by about 1,000 parking spaces, of which 22 will have charging stations for electric cars. At the same time, a photovoltaic system will be implemented in partnership with Renovatio, to streamline energy consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The photovoltaic panels which are going to be placed both on the roof of the shopping centre and in the customer parking lot on carport-type structures will contribute to the reduction by 360 tons/year of carbon dioxide emissions, an amount that could be absorbed by a forest with over 4,000 trees.
The construction intended for the new commercial spaces is designed to allow additional stages of development in the future, namely offices, the expansion of commercial spaces at the upper level and other large individual commercial spaces, totalling an additional leasable area of approximately 25,000 square meters. Thus, Colosseum Mall will consist of a leasable area of approximately 75,000 square meters in the future, becoming one of the largest shopping centres in Bucharest and the country.
The development process of the 60-acre land owned by the developer in Sector 1 of the capital will continue in the form of several projects, which also include an integrated horeca and drive-thru concept near Chitila Road, as well as multifamily residential housing.