Photos: Vassilis Vafidis
Anastasia Balezdrova
110 stores, staff of 1000, and discounts from 35 to 70 per cent of branded goods. In numbers this is the first outlet village in Greece, which opened its doors just two days ago.
The investment of McArthurGlen Group, which was made in a time of severe economic recession, is worth 100 million Euros. Twenty similar villages function in 9 European countries. They occupy over 500,000 square meters of retail space, and McArthurGlen Athens is site number 200 for the company globally.
Athenians and visitors of the capital responded very quickly. Yesterday was the second day after the official opening of the village and it was literally flooded by people who walked around, looked through products, commented on prices, had dinner or just enjoyed their coffee, ice cream or glass of wine. Most active in purchases were women, who were happy by the fact that they can buy creations of world fashion houses of much lower prices. According to Maria and her friend Vivi, "under those circumstances the fact that clothes are from last season, is not of primary importance".
The Greek outlet village runs on area of 21,000 square meters, in which operating are 100 retail outlets. They offer clothing, shoes, accessories, household goods, 10 restaurants and cafes and the parking provides two thousand parking spaces for customers.
The village offers a playground where children can play without any risk to their security, and young girls engaged them in various activities.
Particularly interesting is the architecture of the buildings. They are built in neoclassical style and painted in soft pastel colors. The streets give the impression that the visitors find themselves in a beautiful neighborhood, where they cannot only buy goods at good prices, but also spend a whole day doing different things. For the ladies provided is a beauty salon where they can have their manicure and pedicure done.
Saleswoman, in a famous sportswear brand store, Nikki told GRReporter, that the turnover during the first two days is very good. "I guess Saturday will be filled with customers. I sincerely hope so."
The stores are located on two levels. Around the fountain at ground level there are cafes and restaurants of a famous ice cream chain. Then the visitors find themselves in front of an board indicator, which instead of street names, lists brand names.
McArthurGlen Athens is 30 minutes away from the center of Athens and is very close to the zoo. The company management believes that the location is ideal to attract the 6 million tourists who visit Athens every year. In their opinion the village contributes to the development of the area around Spata suburb as a tourist destination.