First rival for Popoviciu's mall to arrive in September

Băneasa shopping centre of northern Bucharest, controlled by businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, will have its first direct competitor as of autumn, as the retail park part of Colosseum project of Soșeaua Chitilei (Chitilei Road) is to be completed, with stores of Carrefour, Leroy Merlin and Altex retailers due to be opened.
French Carrefour, the biggest player on the hypermarket market, has reconfirmed the fact that the 8,000 square metre store of Colosseum is scheduled for opening this September, while another Carrefour store is due to be opened in October, in Botoșani.
Colosseum and Băneasa are around 5 km away from each other, but at present the closest rivals for the project owned by Gabriel Popoviciu are around 10 km away, namely Cotroceni Park and Unirea Shopping Center.
Băneasa project, Romania’s biggest shopping park, has been the most “sheltered” from rivals in the past three years, a period when the rest of city areas have seen nine shopping centres being built.