Baumax Opens For Business In The 20 Million Euro Vazov Retail Park

Retail park Vazov on Sofia's Vladimir Vazov Boulevard will become one of the largest retail complexes for specialised goods in the country, with over 27 000 sq m in retail area, a total investment of which has been estimated at over 20 million euro, Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on September 9 2009.

Meanwhile, Baumax already opened the largest do-it-yourself (DIY) hypermarket in the Balkans on August 25, which is the second complex to open within the same retail park. The facility is spread on 15 741 sq m and it is the first such store from the Austrian chain that is operational in Sofia. Baumax has three other operations, in Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Bourgas.

The first phase of the Vazov business park commenced operation in 2007 with the inauguration of Technomarket. The second phase is the opening of Baumax, where the third retail chain poised to be completed and start operating in the business park will be the Mercator facility, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010.

The beginning of Baumax's operation was marked on August 26 with an official ceremony at which Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was present alongside the Minister for Regional Development Rossen Plevneliev, the mayor of Kremikovtsi Ivailo Panev, prominent Bulgarian businessmen and Nikola Sekai, executive manager of Baumax Bulgaria.

Baumax is an Austrian hypermarket chain that offers home improvement and do-it-yourself goods. The company is based in Kindberg, Austria, and opened its first store in 1976. In 2008 Baumax opened its first store in Bulgaria, located in Plovdiv, followed by stores in Stara Zagora and Burgas. The company plans to build a total of 20 stores in the coming 10 years throughout Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, Mercator, the Slovenian retail chain based in Ljubljana, invested in the Varna Towers retail centre complex, and was expected to open in the autumn of 2009. Mercator's hypermarket in the Varna Towers was to be the chain's first in the seaside city and one of the first in Bulgaria.