20 small stores closed in Bucharest's Unirea Shopping Centre

Around 20 stores, generally small ones, are empty in the Unirea Shopping Center, central Bucharest, amid lower sales recorded during this period, after one or two years ago, there used to be waiting lists for opening a store in Unirea. The empty stores are mainly to be found in the Calarasi wing of the shopping centre, with more than 10 stores being closed on the second floor in this wing, which mainly hosts men’s clothing retailers. “They closed because they had weak sales. Things vary from day to day. One day you may have nothing to do, and the next day sell so much as to make up for the previous day,” says one of the retailers in the Calarasi wing. The closed stores include Alex Trading, Red Fashion, Tabu Shoes, and Madoc Jeans and Sportswear. In the Calarasi wing, traffic is lower than in the project’s central area, as the hallway is narrower and stores are smaller. Another retailer whose store is temporarily closed is Tina R, located in Unirea’s central wing. The store is currently under renovation. Unirea representatives did not provide an exact account of the retail spaces by the time this issue was ready for print. Unirea Shopping Center has an over 40,000 square-metre lettable area and around 200 tenants, which means almost 10% of the stores are closed. Considering the area of the stores closed, usually 20-50 square-metre stores, the project’s vacancy rate is much lower. Unirea’s leading tenants include Steilmann, Polo Garage, Flo & Jo, House of Art, Kenvelo, Fox, Levi’s and Lee Cooper.