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A new generation food hall with an integrated culinary space will open in the Europa shopping centre in Vilnius. There are plans to invest EUR 3 million in the leisure and restaurant area installation and the interior renovation solutions. 10 restaurants with different menu items will be situated in an area of almost 800 sq. m. The new food hall is part of the ongoing Europa renovations, which are being implemented to adapt to the needs and of the city’s central business district and the habits of consumers.
The food hall is expected to open in the last quarter of this year, halfway through the refurbishment of the shopping centre. Renovations to the premises of the upcoming food hall are currently underway, and the selection of the food suppliers has begun. The manager of the food hall is Sapus, a company with extensive experience in the development of shopping centres and catering concepts.
“We created the concept of the food hall by considering the needs of the employees in the business centres located around the shopping centre – about 30 thousand people work in an area just a few minutes’ walk away. The food hall will be able to serve 300 guests at a time, but there will also be opportunities to serve visitors at additional places in other areas of the shopping centre,”
said Aurimas Namajuška, Managing Partner at Sapus.
According to Namajuška, food hall are gaining popularity all over the world due to their dynamic environment and varied range of options. The Europa shopping centre will offer a high-quality menu in response to the current preferences, with Mexican, South Asian, Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean menus planned.
Visitors will also be able to find healthy food, vegetarian dishes and quick lunch options. The main flow of visitors is expected during the day, so a lot of attention is being paid to the speed of service and the range of products offered when choosing the restaurants. However, the area will also be suitable for visiting after business hours – in particular, a new covered terrace with a seating area will be provided for this purpose.
For exceptional experiences, a mobile pop-up culinary place is planned to be included in the food hall for events and short-term rentals. In principle, this space will be reminiscent of a culinary studio, where everyone can try their hand at cooking. The food hall will also host culinary events, with guest chefs and tastings.
According to Eglė Juškienė, Manager of the Europa shopping centre, the food hall project is integrated with the vision of a renewable shopping centre, which is dominated by functionality, comfort and versatile solutions to satisfy the needs of visitors.
“We want to make the renewed Europa an attractive site for the employees of the companies and organisations located around it, with the food square as one of the main attractions. We have created a new concept to eliminate the boundaries between the shopping centre and the food hall in order to ensure their synergy, as well as providing a greater sense of space, functionality and convenience, with additional choices for visitors,”
said Juškienė.
Sapus employs professionals in shopping centre and catering development, with more than 20 years of international experience in this field. The company is active in the Baltic, Western European and Eastern markets. Clients of Sapus include the Northern Horizon Fund, Infortar, EuroEstates, Grinvest and Vakarų medienos grupė, among others.
The Europa refurbishment are planned to be completed in the first half of 2022. Throughout the reconstruction period, the shopping centre will continue to offer uninterrupted services and will remain open to visitors.
About Europa shopping centre:
The Europa shopping centre has been operating in Vilnius since 2004. The 22,000 sq. m centre currently houses nearly 100 retail trade and service outlets .
The owner of the centre is Baltic Horizon Fund, a registered contractual public closed-end real estate fund managed by the alternative management company Northern Horizon Capital AS. The fund is listed on the Nasdaq Tallinn and Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchanges.
In total, the Baltic Horizon Fund’s portfolio consists of 15 real estate properties in the capitals of the Baltic States, covering an area of more than 153 thousand sq. m. The total value of the fund’s asset portfolio exceeds EUR 355 million.
In Vilnius, Lithuania, the fund owns the Europa shopping centre, as well as the Domus Pro shopping centre and office complex, and the Duetto and North Star office complexes.
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