IF ALL had gone to plan, Slovaks would by now have been able to do their Christmas shopping at the county’s first fashion outlet centres. But things have turned out differently and eager shoppers must for now continue trekking to the Austrian village of Parndorf if they want to experience this kind of retail shopping experience. Both Slovak projects – One Fashion Outlet by Realiz in Voderady, near Trnava, and D1 Outlet by IPEC Group, near Senec – have now been postponed to next year. While Realiz announced back in February this year that its outlet centre would not open until 2012, IPEC only did the same this autumn.
“The outlet centre is being prepared for 2012,” said Ľudovít Tóth, media representative for IPEC Group, as quoted by the Nový Čas daily. “The postponement was caused by several factors, especially the uncertainty of future tenants with respect to future economic developments.”
The area around the future outlet centre in Senec is being developed even without the outlet centre. On November 10 Austrian furniture producer P.Max opened a 1,000 square-metre shopping centre at the D1 Park Bratislava/Senec. The building was constructed by IPEC Group, which sees it as an embodiment of its vision to extend the park’s functions from warehousing, manufacturing and administrative premises into retail. Based on IPEC Group's plans, D1 Park will contain an outlet centre and a retail park consisting of large showrooms focusing on hobby, automotive and construction materials. IPEC has said it plans to invest €35 million in the outlet centre.
Meanwhile, investment in One Fashion Outlet, a planned three-phase 30,000 square-metre fashion outlet, is supposed to exceed €75 million. The first phase is to provide consumers with 60 to 70 retail stores offering famous international brands, the project's website states. It is now projected to open in autumn 2012. Because both planned centres will be near each other, their catchment areas are similar.
