Varena opens in Vöcklabruck

Varena in Vöcklabruck has opened its doors on Wednesday, August 25th 2010. It is the 24th mall of SES Spar European Shopping Centers. The company has invested €82 million in this location and created 750 jobs. It is the single largest private investment ever made in Vöcklabruck.

With its exceptional architectonic presence the shopping center presents 80 attractive shops, shop-in-shop-concepts, restaurants and service providers throughout its 32,000 m². The grand opening of Varenais the largest shopping center opening in Austria for 2010.

The shopping center has been fully leased for months. Only the very best international, national and regional merchants have taken up occupancy in the shopping center.

The shopping center also demonstrates a good carbon footprint. An innovative and environmentally friendly energy concept utilizes groundwater-pumps to both heat and cool the building.

The location adjacent to Bundesstraße / Highway 1 in Vöcklabruck has been a retail location since the 1960s. Interspar opened its hypermarket at this location in 1995. A new and wholly integrated project has been in the planning since 2002.

The new shopping center Varena was built over a period of 29 months. SES is the developer, constructor, investor and operator of the shopping center. The renowned architectural firm ATP Architekten & Ingenieure designed the center. The mall was constructed as a joint venture between the companies Alpine, Strabag and Dywidag. The neighboring property owners were kept informed about the development of the shopping center from the very beginning.

Most shopping centers in Upper Austria are geographically concentrated around Linz, Wels and Steyr. Local purchasing power has also been diverted to Salzburg. Varena strengthens the capital city of Vöcklabruck as a retail center and increases its significance throughout the region.

The broad catchment area and customer base of Vöcklabruck encompasses the area between Linz and Salzburg. The large number of second homes and its significance for the tourism industry makes Vöcklabruck an ideal location for a shopping center with supra-regional appeal.
According to a study by RegioPlan Consulting, shopping center density in Upper Austria after the opening of Varena , with its 300 m² per 1000 residents, lies well within the Austrian mean.