Gross Leasable Area in shopping malls in Central Europe is expected to grow on average by 60% until 2009 when compared with 2007, the results of a marketing survey published by the international market research firm Research & Markets show.
In Central and Eastern Europe Bulgaria and Romania are among the countries where growth in retail space is projected to be the highest over the two-year period. Retail space in Bulgaria is expected to grow by 350% while the projected growth for Romania is 210%. This high growth rate can be explained mainly by the lower existing volume of retail space, which serves as a basis for the forecast. The development of modern retail space in these two countries started only several years ago and they are still lagging considerably behind central European markets, such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which are already experiencing saturation and are unlikely to register high growth rates in the near future.
By the end of 2008 in the big cities of the six major markets in Central Europe there will be over 280 shopping centers, the report claims. In Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania retail formats, such as outlet centers and retail parks, are currently almost non-existent but with the rapid development of those markets specialized retail centers are likely to appear after 2010.
Regarding recently opened retails centers, Romania holds the leadership in terms of gross leasable area per shopping mall. In Bulgaria there is already at least one modern retail center in every big city. In addition, there are a number of projects for the construction of new shopping malls, which are likely to hit the market in the next couple of years. Almost 97% of these projects are realized with the help of foreign investments, a survey by King Sturge indicated. However, analysts believe that not all of the announced projects will prove successful. Even at present there are already examples of unsuccessful projects for shopping centers, experts say.
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