Unirea Shopping Center

Shopping mall in Bucharest, Romania

Unirea Shopping Center

Location| Bucharest, Romania
Opening date| 2 September 1976
Owner| S.C. Unirea Shopping Center S.A.
No. of stores and services| 250
Total retail floor area| 43,760 m2 (471,000 sq ft)[1]
No. of floors| 4
Parking| 1,000 underground & deck

Unirea Shopping Center is a chain of two large shopping centres, the initial one being located in Unirii Square, Bucharest, Romania, and the second one in Brașov.

## Bucharest

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Unirea Shopping Center during the communist period

Opened in 1976 and enlarged in 1989, it was the largest department store in Communist Romania.[2] It was converted into a shopping centre during the 1990s. The complex has a total area of 83,971 square metres (903,856 sq ft) and 1,000 parking spaces.[1] The closest metro station to the shopping centre is Piața Unirii metro station.

### Critical reception

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In recent years many empty spaces have appeared in the Unirea shopping centre in Bucharest where once main-street and many less well known brands had their outlets. The state of the building has deteriorated gravely, which may lead to more vacancies in the near future. For occasional Romanian clients and foreign tourists it seems already to be clear that when the owner of the building does not invest in redevelopment (e.g., by reduction of shop floor capacity and modernisation, combined with creation of office space at the top floors of the building), this unique Bucharest landmark mall, despite its magnificent location and history, may lose its attraction completely, and could remain only an interesting outer hull for advertisement purposes mainly. In 2020 only some specialised clothing shops attract seemingly sufficient attention from the greater Bucharest region, worth paying a visit.

### Developments in the 2020s

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In January 2021 two outlets of the Inditex group (Bershka and Pull&Bear) were closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the once attractive façade of the building partially crippled and shop windows at the north side of the building empty and less attractive. The food court on the top fourth floor was also closed, and most of the remaining shops on the third floor (with one exception) were closed as well, or were relocated to empty space on the second floor. In the basement, a Mega Image grocery store operated until its closure in early 2023[3]. On the third and second floor many of the fire exits have been permanently locked, which constitutes a serious health risk in case of a fire in the building.[4]

## Unirea Shopping Center Brașov

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The owner opened a second shopping centre in 2008 in Brașov,  Unirea Shopping Center Brașov, covering 42,000 square metres (452,084 sq ft) on four levels and one underground, with ground and underground parking on three levels.[5] 90% of the brands are present in the Bucharest complex too. Total value of the investment is estimated at 35 million euro.[6]

In 2019 the Brașov shopping center, once very favorite for its location near to the railway station, seems to have lost the battle with recently developed malls elsewhere in the city, since it is almost empty, as if in a state waiting for permanent closure.

## References

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1. ^ a b Unirea Shopping Center Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
2. ^ "Cum a făcut față capitalismului cel mai mare magazin universal deschis aproape de kilometrul zero al Capitalei". Ziarul Financiar (in Romanian). November 23, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
3. ^ Negoita, Beatrice (2023-01-04). "După aproape 15 ani, supermarketul Mega Image de la parterul Unirea Shopping Center s-a închis • Știri București". B365 (in Romanian). Retrieved 2025-06-04.
4. ^ Polite, Luciana (2025-02-27). "„Magazinul Unirii a ieșit la pensie". Spațiul comercial imens, vânat acum ani buni de oameni din întreaga țară, arată precum o clădire „bântuită" de amintiri". www.bugetul.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2025-06-04.
5. ^ Tourist Informator (in Romanian)
6. ^ "Magazinul Unirea iși duce chiriașii la Brașov". Ziarul Financiar (in Romanian). March 3, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2020.

## External links

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* Official website (in Romanian)

44°25′40.78″N 26°6′16.15″E﻿ / ﻿44.4279944°N 26.1044861°E﻿ / 44.4279944; 26.1044861

* v
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Shopping malls in Romania

Bucharest|

| Current|

* AFI Cotroceni
* Băneasa Shopping City
* București Mall
* Grand Arena
* Liberty Center Mall
* Plaza Romania
* Promenada Mall
* Sun Plaza
* Unirea Shopping Center
* Mega Mall
* Park Lake
* Veranda Mall

|

Planned|

* The Colosseum
* Dâmbovița Center
* Esplanada Center

Cluj-Napoca|

* Iulius Mall Cluj
* VIVO! Cluj-Napoca

Iași|

* Iulius Mall Iași
* Mall Moldova
* Palas Iași

Oradea|

* Lotus Center
* Era Shopping Park Oradea

Timișoara|

* Iulius Town Timișoara
* Shopping City Timișoara

Elsewhere|

* City Park Mall
* European Retail Park Brăila
* Iulius Mall Suceava

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