Small retailers in Unirea not afraid of Zara and H&M

Unirea Shopping Center is increasingly looking like a mall as all major fashion names are lining up on the ground floor and radically changing the look of the old universal store.

From one end to the other, Zara, New Yorker, Berksha, Douglas are lined up, with Stradivarius, Pull & Bear and H&M set to join them this year. Yet, what are the few small retailers that are left in Unirea doing?

“Since Berksha also opened on the ground floor, we are also faring better. We hope the new openings will have a favourable impact over sales,” says a vendor.
While owners are either too busy, or unwilling to talk, or believe any statements would only be baseless projections, shop clerks are more optimistic.

All of them are speaking of rising traffic. None of them, though, is providing any figures on the number of visitors, which revolves around “several tens”.
During the week, the Bucharest store sees 35,000-40,000 visitors daily, with the number rising to 50,000 people at weekends, according to market sources.