The well-known American brand GAP and Zara Home are new entries that will be brought to the Croatian market this autumn by Arena Center, a shopping mall being built by Trigranit in Zagreb’s Lanište.
During a tour of the shopping center construction site, Vlaho Kojaković, the director of Trigranit for Croatia, announced the arrival of these brands in Croatia and mentioned that negotiations are ongoing with Swedish H&M. According to him, H&M plans to enter the Croatian market in 2011, aiming to open four stores in Zagreb (in the north, south, west, and east). Trigranit hopes that the southern H&M store will open right in Arena Center.
In addition to the mentioned fashion brands, Arena Center, which is expected to be completed by October this year, will feature another 200 stores and 10 cinema halls (including one IMAX hall). Half a year before the opening, about 85 percent of the center has been leased. The investment value in the shopping center, which will apparently be the only one to open its doors to visitors this year, amounts to 244 million euros. -This amount ranks Arena Center as the largest foreign direct investment in Central Eastern Europe since 2009 – said Kojaković. This investment is partially financed by seven European banks (55 percent), while the remaining amount consists of Trigranit’s own funds.
About 2,500 people are currently engaged (or will be) in the construction of Arena Center, which will span approximately 180,000 square meters of gross developed area, and upon completion, around 3,000 workers are expected to find employment there. Besides discussing Arena Center itself, Vlaho Kojaković also spoke about other investments that Trigranit plans in Croatia. The expansion of the shopping center by an additional 40,000 square meters and two office buildings are new projects that Trigranit plans to realize in 2012 or 2013 in Lanište.
