Lithuanians flock to shop ... and skate

Since it opened at the end of April thousands of shoppers have flocked to the Akropolis, Lithua-nia's newest and largest shopping and entertainment center.

Resembling an airport terminal more than the Greek temple, the new 54,000-square-meter complex contains 85 stores, a hypermarket, restaurants, eight movie theaters and an ice skating rink.

"We had high expectations for the opening and were prepared for many people, but our expectations were exceeded," said Giedrius Juozapavicius, Akropolis' marketing director.

An estimated 200,000 people stepped through its doors during the three-day opening weekend.

A total of 180 million litas ($45 million) were invested in the construction of the project, with 140 million litas coming from Vilniaus Prekyba, the Baltic states' largest locally owned retail chain, which also owns Akropolis' anchor store, Hyper Maxima. A group of tenants funded the remainder.

The Akropolis center and the Akropolis Kinas movie theaters are also part of the Vilniaus Prekyba group.

When planning the center's layout, officials looked to successful malls in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic that mixed retail stores with leisure activities.

"Big supermarkets already exist in the Vilnius region but until now, there was no shopping and entertainment complex with stores ranging from clothes to electronics to jewelry, all under one roof," he said.

"Retail spaces were rented very quickly, and the demand was so high we could have built another row of stores."

Adding to the draw of the variety of stores is one unique attraction – the ice rink. The closest shopping center that also gives shoppers a chance to skate is located in the Hungarian capital Budapest, according to Juozapa-vicius.

"It is particularly popular since Vilnius has not had a location for ice-skating for 10 years," he said.

The ice rink, cinema and children's playground are examples of how the mall acts as a leisure center that is "oriented toward the entire family where they can spend an entire day," Juozapavicius said.

The Akropolis appeals to people from all income levels, he added.

"The Akropolis was designed primarily for middle-class families, but there are some luxury shops here where one can spend a lot of money. Those shoppers with lower incomes can also find things to buy here because there are many special offers and promotions as well."

Overlooking the ice rink is an open food court where the seating areas of Italian, Chinese and rustic Baltic-themed restaurants blend together. A two-story moving windmill welcomes diners into the Latvian restaurant Lido.

The restaurant, the first Lido in Lithuania, was built by Lithua-nian hands but to Latvian specifications, said Julius Numavicius, its manager.

Lido is owned by the Europica company, which runs pizza restaurants in Kaunas and Klaipeda as well as the Euroopa children's play area in the Akropolis.

"There are ideas to expand further into Lithuania, but no concrete plans yet," said Numavicius.

However, there are plans for the next Akropolis to be built in Riga. The design is being finalized and construction could begin as early as this month.

The shopping and entertainment center will be constructed on the site of an old Soviet agricultural machinery factory and will include a Hyper Maxima supermarket, Danish household goods seller Jysk and other retailers.

And though it only opened two weeks ago expansion plans are in the works for the Vilnius Akropolis. Officials are discussing the addition of a building materials store, a bowling center and even a water park that would be four times the size of the closest park in Mikolajki, Poland.