Ikea Shopping Centers Russia is investing €260 million to develop a new, 215,000-square-meter, modern shopping mall in Mytischi, northeast of Moscow. Mega Mytischi will be one of Europe’s largest shopping centers and is set to attract a raft of international retailers seeking expansion opportunities in Russia. Scheduled to open in early 2018 and welcome an expected 25-30 million visitors per year, Mega Mytischi, will benefit from an Ikea store as a powerful anchor tenant, along with other home improvement and hypermarket anchors.
Mega Mytischi will be split over two floors, with 40% of space being reserved for anchor stores, and the remaining 60% providing space for a huge variety of retailers, restaurants, and services. Its tenant mix will focus on bringing together major international brands from the fashion, food, leisure, entertainment, and furniture sectors, with emphasis placed on creating a leading family lifestyle destination for the mid-range consumer.
More than half of the gallery will be available for fashion retailers, with a focus on mid-range “best of the high street” brands. Eating out continues to grow in Russia, and Mega Mytischi will offer food and beverage space for tenants with proven experience of increasing dwell time and driving footfall.
The mall will also provide more than 10,000 parking spaces that will be a significant attraction to Moscow’s many car-driving families. Mega Mytischi’s development is part of a wider investment program being undertaken by Ikea Shopping Centers Russia between now and 2020.
The company has a long-term commitment to Russia and its growing retail market. Ikea Shopping Centers Russia already has Mega malls in 11 of Russia’s 15 ‘Millionniki’ cities with over 1 million people. Plans for new Mega malls will continue to focus on cities with populations of over 1 million, but the shopping center developer has confirmed it is also looking closely at cities with populations of over 500,000.
