Mr. Ganev, which are the advantages of City Center Sliven taking into account the construction market movements?

- First of all there are no shopping centers in Sliven of such scale and our analyses showed that competition is not planning to start a similar project in this city. This is the first reason which should drive merchants and various brand operators to choose City Center Sliven. Second, the location – it is unique for the city and is very close to the main shopping street and the central square. Tzar Osvoboditel Street, where the main entrance to the center is situated, is a transport artery and there is heavy traffic, which is a prerequisite for good visibility and attendance. The presence of a car parking facility is also an advantage because, as you know, in shopping centers situated in central urban areas not only in Bulgaria but also in Europe, parking space is rare.

These are the two main advantages of City Center Sliven. The third one is the provided financing which is very important for such a project. Its current phase is two-three months before completion. From this point of view, the tenants have a guarantee that the project will be finished and will be operational in the beginning of 2012.

Do you think small shopping centers can compete with the big ones and which are their main strengths?

- Small shopping centers can successfully exist in a number of circumstances. Maybe the most important one is their location and next comes their concept – the right tenant mix. There is no way for smaller shopping centers to offer the same or similar concept to that of conventional shopping centers (big malls) and that is why the future of small shopping centers cannot be viewed as a whole. But if such projects are adequately analyzed in advance as future flows – financial and social, and as a good tenant mix, there is a strong possibility that they will be resilient in time. Not only small shopping centers but also big ones can be unsuccessful in the long term. There is no guarantee as in every other business that starting and completing such project will be successful after two three years. So there is a place for small regional shopping centers in particular city areas but they should be positioned carefully.

Taking into account the project costs, how big do you think will be the operational costs of the shopping center and which operational and maintenance model have you chosen?

- The operational management will be conducted by the investors who have created a separate enterprise with the sole purpose of running and maintaining the shopping center, and managing costs and all operational activities. Relying on the investors’ long business experience, we find that decision the most suitable one at this point. Furthermore, the shopping center is not big and the number of the companies in the region with the needed experience is surely small. Thus we came to the conclusion that the decision we made would be the most acceptable for our tenants. We think that the investors and their company will cope with that, furthermore the managing director of the company and the team will be trained according to the international standards, so they can approach all issues with competence.

To what extend opening such a shopping center is important for trade in the region and how will that impact the city?

- It certainly will have importance, if the negotiations with the major tenants are successful and we fill all commercial units, there will be some change in the retail space allocation in the central part of the town. I would not claim though that the opening of the shopping center would affect other parts of the city or the region. The center is not big and for that reason I don’t think there will be an impact except for the central part of Sliven.

How do the residents of Sliven react to the forthcoming opening of this new shopping center?

- They are eagerly waiting because there has been no other shopping center of this type. When designing the concept, we mixed the two major blueprints – convenience goods and similar goods. Convenience goods are the everyday products and similar goods are those which suppose the presence of traders which offer similar products or services. We decided to mix this to offer people a shopping center where they can find two-three major fashion brands and lots of convenience goods.

-----------------------

Dobromir Ganev

is managing director of GVA Sollers Solutions for Bulgaria. The company offers a complete set of services in the facility management and real estate field and is now the consultant for City Center Sliven - the first modern retail project in Sliven.