JD Sports, one of the world’s leading sportswear and streetwear retailers, opened their first store in Iași, located in the Palas complex, on the th of April 2025. This marks the first in a series of regional premieres for the new area designed for sportswear stores in the mixed-use project developed by IULIUS. The company continues to develop Palas Iași, following a concept by world-acclaimed architecture firm Foster + Partners: remodeling the existing commercial premises and expanding the total leasable retail area upwards of 80,000 square meters, first-to-region brands, new dining and leisure experiences, new conference center, expanded park, and more events.

The JD Sports store spans on 560 square meters and introduces the international multibrand’s latest concept. Clients will find here sportwear and casual streetwear collections by notorious brands, as well as exclusive products that are only available in JD Sport locations. Established in the United Kingdom in 1981, the brand has become one of the world’s most relevant retailers, operating in 29 countries across Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zeeland.

“After the inauguration in Iulius Town Timișoara last year, we are very happy that we were able to find the right location to grow our collaboration with JD Sports in Palas as well. JD Sports is one of the leading groups in the sports fashion and outerwear market in Europe, the UK, North America, and Asia. We are especially glad that we were able to launch them first in the new sports area in Palas, which is dedicated to the most relevant specialty brands and where works are currently underway. This initiative is part of a more extensive process for transforming Palas based on a concept by famous architecture firm Foster + Partners. We continue to enhance the shopping experience by expanding existing stores, introducing new international brands, and enriching the leisure options, so that Palas will remain the choice destination for the 22 million people visiting our complex every year,” said Oana Diaconescu, Head of Retail Leasing at IULIUS.

The new development phase of Palas Iași entails the following: increasing the leasable retail space up to 80,000 square meters, redesigning the park with new interactive areas for children, waterfalls and a rethinking of the landscape, as well as a new events center. The remodeling of Palas is estimated around EUR 80 million, raising the investment made by IULIUS in downtown Iași upwards of EUR 520 million.

Shopping centres in Romania are more frequently used as leisure destinations than in many other European countries, according to a recent analysis by Nhood Romania, a real estate services company. The findings suggest that Romanian malls outperform those in Germany, Italy, and Austria in terms of entertainment offerings, although the overall range remains limited.

The analysis covered more than 30 shopping centres in Romania. It found that despite limited diversification, Romania’s malls are better positioned in the leisure segment, largely due to local consumer behaviour. According to Bogdan Aldea, Head of Business Development at Nhood Romania, Romanian consumers are more inclined to use malls for recreation than their counterparts in more mature markets, presenting a growth opportunity for developers.

However, spending on entertainment remains relatively low. Based on data from Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (INSSE), households spent an average of 3.1% of their consumption budget on recreation, culture, and sports in 2023—about 120 RON per month. This share increases to 5.9% among households with higher incomes but still falls below levels seen in other countries: 5.1% in Spain, 7% in France, and 9% in Germany.

In terms of existing offerings, most Romanian malls include facilities like children’s play areas and arcades, present in 40–50% of centres. More specialised activities such as virtual reality attractions, bowling, laser tag, escape rooms, or trampoline parks are available in less than 10% of the analysed locations. Only 41% of shopping centres offer more than one type of entertainment.

Despite this, the presence of any form of entertainment is higher in Romanian malls (79%) than in Germany (57%) or Italy (45%). This is attributed to local consumer habits and different strategies by mall operators. In Romania, shopping centres have increasingly adapted to leisure-focused use, while other countries have been slower to respond to evolving consumer preferences.

According to Gabriela Piștalu, Head of Property & Asset Services at Nhood Romania, expanding the variety of entertainment options could improve customer retention and foot traffic. She emphasised the importance of integrating complementary attractions to support the positioning of malls as multi-purpose lifestyle destinations.

Currently, Nhood Romania manages 23 retail properties, with 7,000 square metres of entertainment space already in place and another 4,100 square metres under development.

The Greek toy and home goods retailer Jumbo continues its expansion on the Romanian market and opened its second store in Timisoara, located on Calea Şagului no. 223. The retailer is also looking for employees for several stores in the country.

Currently, Jumbo operates stores in several cities in the country, including Bucharest, Sibiu, Arad, Brașov, Constanța, Craiova, Iași, Oradea, Pitești, Ploiești and Suceava. The company’s rapid expansion is part of the brand’s strategy to expand on the local market, offering a wide range of products at affordable prices.

Jumbo is the market leader in Greece in the field of selling toys and baby products and has 86 stores open in 4 countries. Jumbo Romania currently has 20 stores.