Geanina Ungureanu, CPI Property Group: “We want to invest in equipment and technologies that will ensure that we have efficient and modern buildings”

“CPI Property Group owns a retail portfolio with several shopping centers. We have the Sun Plaza project in Bucharest, we have the Vivo brand in Cluj, Constanta, Baia Mare and Pitesti. We also have the Felicia Iasi shopping center, but also a retail park in Botosani. All these buildings are under our management.

2024 was a year of consolidation, after in 2023 we witnessed a return of traffic and turnover. Last year was very good, a year of growth. Traffic in shopping centers increased, and tenant turnover increased by at least 10%. We hope that 2025 will bring equally good results,” Geanina Ungureanu, Head of Retail Romania, CPI Property Group said at Retail Forward 2025 organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

Key statements:

• 2024 started with project renovations. We have some shopping centers that are even over 15 years old and that is why investments in renovations were needed. CPI Property Group saw these opportunities and has invested a lot in Romania in recent years. On the retail side, since 2024 we have had the Primark project in Cluj which we will open this fall. This year we will continue with the renovation of the food court in Constanta, a location that has recorded one of the highest growth rates in the last 3 years and has been a star of our properties.
• Our largest project – Sun Plaza in Bucharest – will undergo a refurbishment. Zara will become a much larger concept, of 4,000 square meters, on two levels and will reopen this fall. Also, this summer we will start the project to downsize the hypermarket, which is one of the largest in the country and the region, by 23,000 square meters. There we will come with updates and renovations, so that we have a strong tenant mix in Sun Plaza.
• Time is a very important resource and we focus our efforts on keeping customers for as long as possible inside our malls. We want to improve customer experiences, to offer them, for example, relaxation spaces, play spaces. Each retail tenant tries to come up with a customization of customer experiences from all points of view. The investments we make in our buildings are in this direction.
• Among the challenges in 2025 are the costs that we are trying to keep under control. We want to invest in equipment and technologies that will ensure that we have efficient and modern buildings.