Retail Therapy
In November, Evropeisky Mall, the largest in-town shopping mall in the world, opened in Moscow. Passport Magazine gave it the once over.
By Daniel Klein
 It's big; we have the sore feet to show for it. There are other attributes about the mall which also enter it into league tables, including the fact that it is the mall with the largest number of stores in Russia. The IKEA Mega Malls are larger in terms of area: up to 250,000 sq meters, as compared with Evropeisky’s 180,000 square meters (2 million square feet). However, since there are hardly any large-format stores in Evropeisky the number of shops is much greater. According to Passport estimates, based upon the directories inside the centre, there are more than 300 units (some stores are still not yet open).
We asked the experts what they think about Evropeisky: "We were impressed by the number of new brands the owner managed to bring to the project. Evropeyskiy today offers a unique fashion brand selection among all shopping centres in Moscow, featuring, in particular, such stores as Top Shop, Bershka and Massimo Dutti". (Jeff Kershaw, Director, Retail, CBRE Richard Ellis Noble Gibbons).
The mall is also a milestone in Russian retail history since many Western brands are making their first foray into the Russian market, in this state-of-theart shopping centre. When the mall was designed, it was the intention not to copy all the other malls, and to try to 'raise the bar,' such as the fact that it offers indoor parking above the mall on the 5th and 6th floors (a Moscow first), as well as parking in the lower floors below the basement of the mall.
We think that this mall will seriously challenge Moscow's busiest shopping centre, Manezh, in terms of better amenities and increased accessibility. Of course, what matters most of all is the stores themselves, and here the Evropeisky scores high; some of the Western brands of note are listed in the side bar.
Evropeisky Mall is the only in-town shopping centre which has a supermarket. A competing mall across town, Atrium (Kurskaya train station), recently closed its supermarket to make way for a 'muchneeded' large casino. Other amenities not found in many other in-town centres include: a fitness club, movie theatre (Atrium does have one), and metro entrances feeding directly into the mall. There are also plenty of full-service restaurants and a large food court.
Although the mall has not had its official ribbon cutting, word is out, and shoppers are starting to swarm to Moscow’s latest and greatest shopping centre. This clearly will soon become one of Moscow’s destinations of choice, especially during the seemingly endless winter.
Evropeisky Mall:
Kievsky Sq. 1 (opposite Kievsky train station). M. Kievsky.
Tel.: 229-6187
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