TIRANA, March 8 – A new luxury shopping center has opened in downtown Tirana, increasing competition in a city of about 1 million residents where several malls already successfully operate, mainly in the outskirts.
The Toptani shopping center, a €60 million investment by Albanian-owned Gener 2 construction company, offers 60,000 m2 of shopping and recreational facilities, close to the city center, becoming the biggest shopping center in downtown Tirana.
Real estate consultants says the new shopping center takes the total area of some 15 shopping center in Tirana and its surroundings to 240,000 m2, at an average of 220 m2 per 1,000 residents, the same to developed countries, raising question marks over the boom in shopping center investment considering Albania’s current GDP per capita and purchasing power, one of Europe’s lowest.
Rents at shopping centers have sharply increased in the past decade after the opening of the first shopping center just outside the capital in 2005. With more and more picking to shop at these centers, rents now average between €20 to €50 compared to €7 to €40 for small shops in downtown Tirana.
A mid-2016 government decision to reduce the amount of tax free online purchases from abroad to 22 euros, from a previous €140, is also expected to benefit shopping center and smaller retailers who had complained of unfair competition. Online buyers now have to calculate an extra 20 percent in VAT and 2.4 percent in customs duties if they exceed the €22 amount.
