While the total area of shopping malls in Central and Eastern Europe is expected to increase from 12 to 18 million square metres by 2013, Hungary and the Czech Republic will not be involved in the trend, reports online portal Realdeal.hu quoting business daily Vilaggazdasag.
Hungary’s share of the total rentable shopping-centre area within the region is predicted to decline from 15% in 2007 to 10% by 2013. During the same period, Bulgaria’s share is forecast to rise from 2 to 7%, and that of Romania from 9 to 18%.
The survey conducted by PMR Consulting, a British-US-based company offering services for foreign companies interested in the CEE region, attributed the ebb in Hungarian shopping mall construction to the stagnating retail market and the fact that Hungary had already experienced a plaza boom over the past two decades.