IULIUS announces new Auchan hypermarket concept for its RIVUS Cluj-Napoca project

RIVUS, the industrial reconversion and urban regeneration project proposed by IULIUS in Cluj-Napoca, is currently in the building permitting phase and Cluj-Napoca. The investment estimated upwards of 500 million Euro by companies IULIUS and Atterbury Europe will include Auchan as anchor retailer in the food hypermarket segment. 

Auchan is preparing a new hypermarket concept spanning more than 6,000 sqm for RIVUS Cluj-Napoca, featuring an innovative format, adapted to the central location and the vision of the mixed-use project.

Auchan is a long-standing retail partner of IULIUS, being present in most of the group’s projects: Palas Iași, Iulius Town Timișoara, Iulius Mall Suceava and Iulius Mall Cluj, as well as Family Market Bucium and Family Market Miroslava.

“RIVUS is a regional scale project and our largest investment to this date. We built a wonderful partnership with Auchan as early as 2007, when our collaboration was also based in a project in Cluj-Napoca, namely Iulius Mall. We are delighted that RIVUS project will include an Auchan hypermarket, based on our successful previous collaboration and the partner’s capacity to develop customized concepts, in line with the values and requirements of our projects, as was the case for Palas Iași back in 2012, where they opened the first Auchan City format in Romania, with excellent performances. The Auchan hypermarket in RIVUS will have a new format, tailored to the premium concept of the project, for which we are preparing a complete mix, with regional and national premieres not only in the retail segment, but also in terms of the leisure, cultural, entertainment and edutainment offer,” said Oana Diaconescu, Head of Leasing Retail IULIUS. 

“The new Auchan hypermarket in Cluj-Napoca marks a premiere in our network, being designed as a bona fide concept store, a state-of-the-art format revised and adapted to the client profile expected to patronize this innovative project. The store offer will continue to carry the specialized product ranges and Auchan’s flagship products, as well as an extensive assortment of bio, eco and healthy food products, a new flower shop concept, dining area and take-away products, as well as an optimized store layout. We are confident that Auchan RIVUS will provide clients with a modern experience, while remaining true to our commitment to ensure low prices and sustainable trade every single day. We are delighted to be able to share the difference that Auchan makes in even more stores in Cluj,” said Ioana Toșa, Sales Manager for Auchan Retail Romania.

RIVUS Cluj-Napoca will include the largest leasable retail area in Romania (145,000 sqm), premium office spaces, as well as an ample garden built from scratch and spanning more than 5 hectares, that will enable access to and interactivity with the Someș river for the first time ever.

The project will also integrate two buildings from the former industrial site, the only ones that experts’ assessment reports deemed to carry ambient-related value and to be practicable for safe repurposing. The red brick administrative building and an arcade roof hall will be restored and repurposed for cultural and entrepreneurial uses.