Carrefour thinks of pedestrians

Carrefour, the European distribution leader, and French group Vinci, the construction and concession leader, will open the Orhideea shopping complex to include the second Carrefour hypermarket in Bucharest, under a 25m euro investment.
“Whereas the shopping complex we opened in Chiajna about a year and a half ago rather targeted those who used their own cars to come here and shop, the Orhideea shopping complex is more accessible in terms of transportation, by tram, bus and subway,” Francois Oliver, Carrefour Romania executive manager said.
“We therefore estimate to have much more visitors at Orhideea Complex than at the complex in Chiajna – 25,000 people a day, but I cannot say for sure if it’s about 20% more. At any rate, the number of visitors will surely be higher, not only on weekends as it happens with the first Carrefour, but also during weekdays, because this shopping centre is close to Gara de Nord (North Railway station), transited by 12 million people a year,” Oliver added.
The shopping complex in the Orhideelor area entailed a 25 million euro investment, financed by the Vinci Group, the promoter, that is the company that developed this project and will also take care of the construction works. Vinci’s main partner in this venture is the Carrefour Group, according to Phillippe Grummer, Vinci’s development manager.
“The Orhideea complex will take up 7 hectares, the total space occupied by buildings amounting to 30,000 sqm. The Carrefour hypermarket will take up 17,000 sqm, 9,000 sqm of which will account for the actual commercial space,” Grummer said. He added the remaining 8,000 sqm would be divided among 60 shops.
The Orhideea shopping centre is the second project developed by the Vinci group as a promoter in Romania, following the Victoria Tower bought by Banca Romana pentru Dezvoltare (Romanian Development Bank – BRD) – Groupe SociA©tA© GA©nA©rale.
“We’re planning two more shopping centre projects, one in Baneasa and one in downtown Bucharest, following investments of 35 and 40 million euros respectively,” Grummer specified.