Stiefelkönig, Hugo Boss, Estee Lauder, and Christian Dior all plan to open shops on Bratislava's Obchodná ulica within the next year. With these international brand names joining current tenants Betty Barclay, Stival, and EduScho, the pedestrian street appears poised to regain its status as the capital's leading shopping strip.
At least one end of the street looks that way. All of the above-mentioned retailers are or will be huddled on the block between Župné námestie and Poštová ulica on Obchodná's western end. For good reason: that stretch is becoming a hub for shoppers with high spending power. Businesspeople spill out of the Hotel Forum on to that part of the street and tourists wandering through Old Town often end their stroll above Michael's Gate, which is across from Obchodná's mouth. Add to this mix Námestie SNP, the capital's commercial heart around the corner, and the sum is prime real estate.
"It's so nicely located that it's impossible not to have success," said Vladimír Roger of Roger real estate agency, which owns a 7,700-square -meter building at Obchodná 2, smack on the corner where the pedestrian zone meets Nám. SNP and Župné nám. Roger's agency bought the building last year, is currently reconstructing it, and plans to open it next April.
Obviously, tenants have been attracted to Roger's building for its location, but that is not all. "And we have parking!" Roger said. "It's crazy! We have two floors of parking underground - 35 spaces - with an entrance from Námestie SNP."
But parking remains a problem in the area and that may be one reason the office space on the upper floors of Roger's building has been slower to go. The agency is hoping to sign a few large tenants for the office space, but Roger is convinced it will be full when it opens next spring.
