Next to the Pilsen industrial zone, three giant shopping centers will be built

Plzeň - Next to the Plzeň industrial zone Borská pole, three multinational chains will build giant shopping centers. They will focus on the needs of craftsmen and builders, sports goods, and furniture. A sales complex is already being built there by the French multinational chain Decathlon, a retailer of sports goods, and the German DIY market Bauhaus. Both are scheduled for completion and opening in March or April; the rough construction is already finished, said Petr Rund (ODS), the deputy mayor, to ČTK.
     Decathlon is building a center opposite Tesco near the roundabout under construction. "It is a somewhat different concept than we are used to. It should include mini sports fields where people can immediately try out the goods they have purchased, their own brand," said Rund. There will be playgrounds for basketball, volleyball, and football, for example.
     "Thanks to Decathlon and Bauhaus, the area opposite Tesco has moved," Rund noted. The problem with the vacant land was a "strange non-terminable contract" between the city and STTC, the company that constructed Carrefour, now Tesco. "We were both entrenched in our positions, and no one wanted to budge. In the end, we succeeded. They had an investor, so they wanted to come to an agreement. Amendments were approved that annulled the original conditions. They are now building on their lands, and we have our own clean," said the deputy. Bauhaus is also building on private land, with the city accommodating it through land exchanges.
     "IKEA is also heading to Borská pole, which has already announced on its website that it wants to build in Plzeň within two years. According to my information, however, they do not want the area around Olympia (a shopping center on the southern edge of Plzeň in Černice), but they want Borská pole (the western part near the industrial zone). There is still plenty of space, but it is now about prices. The city does not have large plots left there, but the Prague-based AP Trust and Škodovka do," said Rund. According to him, XXXLutz and Möbelix were also interested in the land, but eventually gave up.
     Opposite the intersection of Folmavská and U letiště streets, a separate building of the chain Asko nábytek, which is currently located in Tesco, will also be created. "It should already have a building permit," said Rund. Thus, after the completion of all investments, Germans from the border area could head to Plzeň shopping, and if the western bypass is completed, so could people from the Karlovy Vary region.
     According to Rund, a water park opposite Tesco would fit very well into the area, which a private investor is considering building there. "It would attract people. There are beautiful accesses via highway feeders from Klatovy, Domažlice, and Tachov, which is a large catchment area," said Rund. By the end of January, two possible investors will present their offers to the Plzeň city council.