Mall developer: Brands like Zara and H&M, more of a draw for customers

Graham Kilbane, CEO of Cypriot real estate developer Omilos, has begun construction of the Era Shopping Park mall in Oradea and is preparing to start the Iași mall project, having an around 50% occupancy rate ensured for both.

“Part of the Oradea mall will be inaugurated at the end of this year, while the Iași shopping centre will be ready at the end of 2011. We want to draw in major fashion retailers, such as Zara, and H&M, which will surely open several stores in the provinces in two or three years’ time. The ideal scenario would be to stabilise our business by 2013 as far as the occupancy rate is concerned. That will be the ideal time to sell because investors’ interest will definitely also be greater then,” Graham Kilbane, who did not provide details on the names of the future tenants, told ZF.
“A good mix means strong fashion anchors. You need to have a supply of brands that targets medium to low-income earners, because salaries are still low compared with other European markets. When you have brands such as Zara and H&M, and with discount stores, people are more likely to go into each of these stores and spend 100 RON (…),” Omilos’ CEO says.