Bucharest to be home to largest retail center in Central and Eastern Europe

Date: 2006-04-28

"We don"t want people to shop abroad; we want to offer them the opportunity to shop in Romania"

"We don"t want people to shop abroad; we want to offer them the opportunity to shop in Romania," said Baneasa project"s retail development director, Ali Ergun Ergen, on Wednesday in an interview for Bucharest Daily News.

Ergen announced several novelties to be found at Baneasa Shopping City, the largest commercial center in Romania, which was initiated on April 19 and aims to become the most modern shopping and entertainment facility in Romania. A project of Baneasa Developments, Shopping City is part of the commercial platform that will include flagship stores of Metro, Bricostore, Mobexpert, Carrefour and IKEA. The retail center will introduce for the first time in Romania a three-storey food court, providing all diners with a panoramic view of the entertainment space around them.

On the ground floor there will be a traditional food court with all the international brands already present in Romania, the first floor will be called "The Gourmet Promenade" and consist of elegant and casual restaurants, while on the second floor there will be a cosmopolitan court with "exotic food and drinks" from all around the world.

Baneasa Shopping City is also intended to be a leisure and entertainment center for the whole family. Facilities will include a professional supervised children"s area, an indoor, year-round skating rink and a Family Entertainment Center with the very latest in family fun.

The Shopping City will also offer the largest parking area in Bucharest, more than 10,000 parking spaces, of which 1,500 will be underground. The investment in the project is estimated at over 150 million euros and should create more than 2,000 jobs.

Baneasa Shopping City is scheduled to open its gates to the public in the late fall of 2007.

I know you have recently started working for Baneasa Developments after having worked with Anchor Plaza. How do you find this career change and its challenges?

Having worked in Romania for seven years now, I have achieved so many goals, so something had to be very challenging for me to get involved. I have been with Baneasa Developments for almost three months and I was sincerely amazed when I first had the picture of the organization last year but I did not know the whole dimension of this project. However, once you become a part of it you meet the people involved, you get to know the organization, the projects and the core idea behind all of this. It is always good to be a part of something new coming up, a project of these dimensions. Moreover, it is important to not only be a part of it, but also be in the center of it, build it. It"s a very astonishing experience for me.

You introduced the mall concept in Romania through Bucharest Mall. What changes have you noticed throughout the years in this sector?

Seven years ago the retail market was all about shops on the city streets. However, this concept means more than shopping, it also means entertainment and leisure, all in the same place, for people to enjoy it. I strongly believe this concept will be successful in Romania. Certainly, we have to keep moving and bringing new concepts and new trends to the Romanian market, because people are traveling to different countries more than before, are exposed to different cultures and have the opportunity to see various things. Having built two shopping centers until now (Bucharest Mall, Plaza Romania), we shall use our experience to make this new project better.

What are the latest developments on this project?

There is a huge expansion in the north of the city. Basically, the core of the city is gradually moving to the north. When I came here, seven years ago it was believed that the center of the city would be Piata Unirii. Today we can see that the center is moving north. The Baneasa Shopping City project is a different concept in Romania. It is a global shopping center. It is going to become a destination for the people of Bucharest. We shall make sure people will have everything there: the shopping center, IKEA, Carrefour, Bricostore, Mobexpert, Motocity (a car showroom). The shopping center will be surrounded by a neighborhood in which 20,000-25,000 people with high-incomes live.

What are the challenges concerning infrastructure? Do you think authorities can cope with this situation?

Infrastructure is not a problem of today or tomorrow. Romania, being an emerging country, resembles other countries in the region from this point of view. The problems in infrastructure are a consequence of the major developments in Bucharest. In Bucharest I am sure that authorities are very keen to address this issue. The major investors are moving so fast, it is becoming somewhat of a burden for the state. It is an inevitable problem because investors come to Romania and entire regions are growing, and it will take some time to solve it. We all have to be a little bit patient, but I am confident that the City Hall will address this very soon. 

Could you inform our readers of future projects of the company?

The whole project is very big; we plan to build other global shopping centers in the country, possibly one more in Bucharest. First we need to deliver this project and see how it will be functioning and how the concept works. Then we will probably focus on other cities as well.

You said that the center will bring new brands to the Romanian market. Which are they?
We are talking to many brands right now, some significant international stores, new brands also, but we have not formally signed anything yet, although we are very close to doing that. We want to launch the project first. I can tell you that our discussions with cinema operators, entertainment center operators, and department store operators are very advanced. There are going to be new brands for sure and they will be announced by the end of the summer.

A lot of companies have tested the Romanian market years, some eventually entered, and some did not. What is your view on this matter?

After seven years living in Romania, I honestly say that I feel as if I were a Romanian citizen. When I travel abroad and attend conferences and seminars, I very often try to talk to people about Romania, its performances and the opportunities in this country. Unfortunately, the analyses some companies make before entering a new market are very much based on statistics and sometimes statistics alone do not necessarily reflect reality. Therefore, we should be addressing and trying to promote the country"s image. All the investors should make sure that they properly promote this country, because if you look at the revenues that some retailers have obtained here, they are far higher than in other European countries. And we don"t want people to shop abroad; we want to offer them the opportunity to shop in Romania.

Indeed, many people with high incomes living in Bucharest prefer to shop abroad right now. Why do you think that is?

It is a matter of variety and choices. The presence of international brands on the market is still not significant enough and way behind neighboring markets. That"s why many people shop abroad - for better choices and lower prices. Nonetheless, many new brands every day are knocking at the door. It is a matter of time; as the supply of quality retail space grows, more retailers come to Romania.

Although statistics on living standards in Romania are discouraging, as you have said, retail profits are high. Could you explain this paradox for somebody who has never been to Romania before?

It is a booming market. The economy has a stable growth and people earn more money and they also spend more. Lots of investments and many new developments appear daily. The way people live their life is changing, now people consume more, they follow fashion, they buy luxury items, people"s priorities about life have changed. That perfectly explains the paradox. 

What can you tell our readers about your personal experience in Romania?

I believe Romania has great potential, not only because it is a beautiful place to live, but also because it has huge human resources potential. There are many people with good education, strong background, ambition and foreign language skills.

Currently I am trying to learn Romanian. My whole life is here. I am a civil engineer and I came here to work as a civil engineer, but my whole life changed. By coming here, I totally changed my career path too. I like the environment and the people very much. I go to my country pretty much as a visitor. I find it easy to adapt here because people are very friendly, you make friends easily and there are some similarities between Romania and Turkey. I know for a fact, that many foreigners adapt quickly and easily to Romania. I am definitely thinking of a future in Romania. ( Source: Bucharest Daily News)