Swedish retailer Ikea negotiates with shopping center owner for new opening in Iasi, Romania

Swedish retailer Ikea might open a new store this year in Era Shopping Park located in Iasi, Romania. Ikea is currently in talks with the retail center’s owners, according to one of Era Shopping Park’s shareholder the European Convergence Development Company (ECDC). "Construction of the 28,000 sqm Mall extension has been delayed pending finalisation of the debt facility. There is a further 8 hectares of land available for sale or development of further retail units. BMW have offered attractive terms to lease 6,000 sqm of land to develop a showroom and approval is awaited approval from the lenders. Discussions with IKEA are on-going with a positive outlook for 2013,” according to ECDC. The fund is managed by Charlemagne Capital, which runs other projects in Romania, such as Cascade office building, Oradea Shopping Center, Asmita Gardens, among others. The full report can be found here. Swedish retailer Ikea had a turnover of some EUR 89 million in the financial year 2011 – 2012 in Romania, a growth of 10.8 percent on the previous period, the retailer announced. As well as over 3 million customers and 11 million products sold between September 2011 and August 2012, 4 million people in Romania also checked the Ikea website during the period. The only Ikea shop in Romania, located in Bucharest, was opened in March 2007, and is part of the 338-store chain of Ikea shops around the world. Opened in 2008 and currently being extended, Era Shopping Park is the largest retail park in Iasi, with a gross leasable area of some 50,000 sqm. The shopping center currently includes retailers such as Carrefour, Praktiker, Altex, Mobexpert, Rovere Mobili, Decathlon, and has 3,500 parking places. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Ikea)