A Dutch investor has bought the building of the former communist department store Bucuresti for some EUR 4 million, according to Romanian daily Ziarul Financiar.

The new owner, Baakman Johannes Jozefus Maria, is one of the biggest owners of space in Bucharest's Old Town, and has bought the derelict building from the heirs of the Bunescu family, which had created the shop around 100 years ago.

The Bucuresti department store, now in a derelict state, was recently home to an alternative event, when it became an anti-mall, an initiative of the beer producer Ursus Breweries and its brand Grolsch. The five-floored shop is located at one of the entrances into the Old Town, on Lipscani street, and is close to the Unirea and Cocor shopping centers.

Baakman Johannes Jozefus Maria is one of the owners of furniture producer Quadra Invest, and plans to revamp the building and breathe new life into the brand. “Our aim is to turn it into a shopping center. It is too small for a mall,” said Radu Moldoveanu, who represents the Dutch investor in Romania, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The Bucuresti store was one of the iconic department stores of the communist period. Together with the Victoria store on Calea Victoriei, and Cocor and Unirea stores at Unirii square, these were the go to places for shoppers during the communist period. Out of these stores, Unirea and Cocor have been revamped and turned into modern malls, while Victoria is still a combination of new and old.

Bucuresti is the only one which was closed. Built in the inter-war period, the store was closed in the early 2000, and the heirs of its original owner Bucur Bunescu, one of the richest Romanians in the inter-war period, received the store in 2010 by High Court order.

editor@romania-insider.com