Big retailers continue expansion: H&M, C&A and Decathlon, tenants in Maritimo Constanţa

Two of Europe's top three retailers, H&M and C&A, as well as one of the leading sports articles chains - Decathlon, continue to sign contracts to expand on the Romanian market, with the latest project chosen by the three retailers being Maritimo Shopping Center in Constanţa, developed by Austrian investment fund Immofinanz.

The three retailers join French-held Auchan on the list of stores to be opened in September next year within the project originally called Polus Center in Constanţa, fully acquired this year by Austria's Immofinanz from real estate developer TriGranit.

The project will have a 51,000 square-metre lettable area and around 130 stores, and is set to be Immofinanz's fifth mall on the Romanian market.

H&M, C&A and Decathlon are three of the largest European retailers, which have "discovered" Romania only after the crisis came, in the spring of 2009, and are now among the few to expand.