French real estate group Catinvest says it obtained the building permits to start the expansion of Craiova-based Electroputere Mall. The company will extent the food court with five new restaurants and add 5,500 sqm of retail spaces. 

What is most important to shopping centre visitors post-pandemic? Being able to shop in-store without having to rely on the internet and to make spontaneous, unplanned purchases is at the top of the list, shows the latest consumer survey commissioned by Cushman & Wakefield. Being able to participate in events held in shopping centres and access to fitness facilities were rated as least important.

In the first month of operation of the HalfPrice chain in Poland, it was visited by over 500 thousand. customers. Currently, 13 stores operate under this brand, including the newest flagship store in the Warsaw department store. CCC Group decided to accelerate the opening of points under the HalfPrice banner outside Poland. The car showroom in Hungary will make its debut in August. Soon, customers in Austria and the Czech Republic will also be able to shop in the new network. A total of 65 stores will be opened in Poland and Europe by the end of the year.

LCP Group, the owner of Galeria Emka in Koszalin, is about to start the next stage of the EMKA II, the extension of the existing shopping centre.

Regardless of the problems that the measures related to the coronavirus crisis have brought to the retail segment – with shops in Czechia closed for 234 days, the longest period in all of Europe – new brands keep coming to the local market. Nine of them have arrived or will arrive during the first half of the year, the most prominent one of them being Ireland’s Primark fashion chain whose shop opening was expected with a great deal of anticipation.

Retail chain Spar built new supermarkets in a Budapest residential park and in a frequented district of Sopron, and modernised its stores in Mosonmagyaróvár and Szentlőrinc.

Primark has opened its first Czech Republic store in the Flow Building, Flow East’s development on Wenceslas Square in Prague, marking the 14th market for the retailer.

Romania is posting one of the biggest recoveries of non-food consumption in the European Union (EU) and retailers with online stores are set to benefit most from this growth, according to an analysis by real estate consultancy Colliers. 

Starting already from June 14th this year, customers can do shopping within seconds in the first Żappka Store opened within the premises of the Poznań International Fair. The Żappka Store is usable with an application and it has neither checkouts nor attendants. Because the facility is available 24/7, customers can use it at any time of day or night.

German DIY retailer Hornbach will open its second store in Cluj-Napoca this summer, according to a statement of Optim Project Management, which manages the development process.