You may have noticed it recently as you strolled through the Kirchberg Shopping Center: the well-known Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlour, which had been present in the shopping centre for 28 years - since it opened - closed its doors for good on 22 October. "We support our retailers and help them with their projects, but unfortunately we are aware that the covid years have had a major impact on retailing," said the shopping centre’s director, Manuel Felipe.
Marie-Aude Hosten, commercial director of Nhood Luxembourg, the property manager, explained that the closure is part of a process of renewal. "I can understand that the regulars at Kirchberg are a little surprised, but our shopping centre has an average turnover of 6% a year. This means that around four or five of the 70 shops in the centre are renewed every year, and behind the departures, there are also arrivals."
One of these new arrivals is Waffle Factory, which will be taking the place of Häagen-Dazs. Already well established in Belgium and France with more than 75 outlets, the Belgian chain is setting up shop in Luxembourg for the first time. Installation work will start in mid-November, with opening planned for the end-of-year festivities or early 2025.
From seafood to burgers
Another major change is that the seafood restaurant Amarine will be replaced by the major fast-food chain Burger King. "The Agapes Group, which has Amarine in its portfolio, only had one restaurant left, in Luxembourg. In terms of management, it was therefore complicated, and the group preferred to sell it and close the brand", stated Hosten.
With a surface area of 500m2 and a staff of nearly one hundred, Burger King will be a major competitor for the other fast food outlets in the centre, such as Quick, O'Tacos and McDonald's, located just a few steps away in the Kinépolis gallery.
The brand will be open during the shopping centre's normal opening hours, but is currently in talks to extend its operating hours beyond the centre's usual hours, particularly on Sundays and at night.
Medi-Market also coming
The Kirchberg Shopping Center will also welcome Medi-Market, the Belgian chain specialising in the sale of pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical and beauty products at attractive prices. Medi-Market has 94 shops in Belgium and Luxembourg, including one at the Cloche d'Or shopping centre.
"We had been in discussions with this chain for some time, but in order to carry out their project in a gallery, we needed a space large enough to accommodate the range of products they wanted to offer", explained Felipe. So it wasn't until two side-by-side spaces became available on the 1st floor of the shopping centre, opposite the Auchan supermarket checkouts, that the brand finally set up shop in Kirchberg.
The opening, theoretically scheduled for 23 December, "will help to revitalise the centre and surrounding shops", including Candy Factory, a confectionery chain that will be setting up next door.
Read the original French-language version of this news report