 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shopping Centers Today -> December 2002
 PRINT THIS STORY: |
  CHANGE TEXT SIZE: |
|
IKEA SPARES NO EXPENSE FOR MOSCOW’S MEGA FAMILY CENTRE
Russia’s largest shopping center and first super-regional, a 150,000-square-meter (1.6 million-square-foot) mall called Mega Family Shopping & Entertainment Centre, will open Dec. 12 in the southwest suburbs of Moscow. Ikea, Mega’s developer, is pulling out all the stops to make this a retail landmark, adding such eye-catching features as real palm trees — a rarity indeed in frigid Moscow — and a giant tea samovar.
There will be five flagship anchors, among them a 12-screen Kinostar cinema and a 24,000-square-foot Auchan store. Western retailers will include Hallmark, Swatch, Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger. The mall has been 95 percent leased since early this year.
“Mega represents something totally new for Russia,” said Tom Lange, the project’s marketing director.
The layout calls for 250 stores to be organized by the type of shopping excursion. Thus, there will be a high-fashion-apparel area, an area for seniors and a home accessory area (including the Ikea store). A “mall within a mall” will have public areas featuring Russian-themed attractions and a Lego store. Family-oriented activities include a children’s center inside a three-story Fabergé egg, complete with a party room, supervised programs and Lego-designed play areas. The elevator to the egg’s upper levels is to be housed in a model Anik space rocket 26 meters high. Mascots costumed as Russian cosmonauts will greet Mega visitors.
The mall will also be home to Moscow on Ice, a company of Russian ice-skaters similar to North America’s Ice Capades that will perform daily at the mall’s rink.
The mall will become a major draw for tourists as well as Moscow-region shoppers, Lange said, predicting 25 million visitors per year. Mega’s second phase will add an additional 25,000 square meters of retail space and make this Europe’s largest shopping center, he said. Currently, the U.K.’s 153,285-square-meter Bluewater holds that title.
— S.T.
 | Current Issue February 2012 |