Budapest’s new shopping center opens in September this year – PHOTOS

Despite all the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic Etele Plaza, Buda’s largest shopping and entertaining centre is getting close to completion. Hungary’s first smart plaza will open its doors in September 2021. The Plaza will provide a safe and healthy environment with outstanding range of products, unparalleled digital services and architectural solutions. As the latest example of the high retail demand towards the unique complex, Etele Plaza is going to introduce Peek & Cloppenburg’s first store on the Buda side of the capital.

The realisation of the EUR 300 million Etele Plaza has entered its final phase thanks to the financial and professional commitment of Futureal Group. One of the leading real estate developers and investors in Central and Eastern Europe has not only continued its visionary retail project in the middle of the current global economic and health crisis, but it also postponed the original opening date by six months to September in order to minimise the impact of the pandemic and maximize the benefits of Etele Plaza’s tenants and therefore their customers.

“Although Futureal could have kept the original completion deadline we decided to make additional significant financial investments and set a new opening date that has enabled our partners to take a breath and realign their business strategies to the new environment. This step has been proven to be a successful move, since over three quarter of Etele Plaza’s rentable area has been leased by now. The current mix of our tenants already offers an attractive and a colourful diversity of products and services and now we proudly present Peek & Cloppenburg” – underlined Tibor Tatár, CEO of Futureal.

As the latest triumph, Peek & Cloppenburg a family-run international chain of retail clothing stores with headquarters in Düsseldorf and Vienna will launch its first store on the Buda side of the Hungarian capital in Etele Plaza. Over 100 years since its foundation, Peek & Cloppenburg has maintained its passion for quality clothing. Its range covers fashion for any occasion from leisure-time and business clothing through to evening dress. Customers can experience it in each of today‘s more than 140 stores in 15 countries. In its new store in Etele Plaza, Peek & Cloppenburg will offer a selected range of brands on a sales area of around 4,000 square metres including its popular own as well as international brands. For an even more attractive shopping experience, the new store presents itself with a new floor space concept, which is clearly divided into men’s and women’s floors. The new arrangement is intended to provide optimal orientation for our customers and to invite them to be inspired by the variety of products on offer. Another special highlight is the new athletic leisure area. Sports fashion suitable for everyday use is an absolute trend and Peek & Cloppenburg presents brands like Nike and Adidas in Etele Plaza in a new look.

Photo: Etele Plaza

Photo: Etele Plaza

“We are very pleased that we have developed successfully since our start in Hungary in 2007 and are now opening our second store in Budapest in Etele Plaza. Especially in these difficult times, we are looking ahead and continue to believe in the stationary trade,” 

says Paul Pörtner, Director Retail Management at Peek & Cloppenburg and responsible for the Austrian and Eastern European market. The expansion of the company started at the end of the 1990s. Today, Peek & Cloppenburg is represented in 15 countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Serbia. The company will continue to pursue the expansion of its store network, the development of new markets and the expansion in Eastern Europe.

Photo: Etele Plaza

Photo: Etele Plaza

Prior to Peek & Cloppenburg’s announcement, Etele Plaza released the news last year that Spanish Inditex Group decided to be present in the shopping centre with all of its brands available in Hungary, including Zara fashion store featuring a brand new design concept.

• read also: Buda’s largest shopping centre Etele Plaza introduces all the Inditex brands with their new store design concepts

With a rentable area of 55,000 sq m, realised in the meeting point of the Kelenföld railway station, underground line 4 and the approach section of M1-M7 motorways, Etele Plaza can be accessed in just 10 minutes from downtown. The immediate catchment area of the new centre is one of the most densely populated areas of Budapest, where some 235,000 people live. Residents of this district represent 125% of the nation’s average purchasing power with a relatively low retail supply.

Etele Plaza will feature 180 shops, a supermarket, restaurants, cafés, a multiplex cinema, a gym, a children’s play centre and a range of other services with nearly 1,300 parking lots.

The most advanced location and navigation system will facilitate parking in the building by indicating empty spaces, it will also help customers to find the chosen stores or services through a mobile application. In the inner space an interactive LED display media interface will add to the uniqueness of the centre. The complex is being developed under Futureal’s Stay Safe initiative designed to respond to the changing market demand due to the pandemic.

Photo: Etele Plaza

Photo: Etele Plaza

Photo: Etele Plaza

Photo: Etele Plaza

Read alsoEtele Plaza and Grand Corvin awarded among Hungary’s best real estate development projects