Between margins, Russians, Germans, Italians, Macedonians and the first lifestyle retail park in Serbia – 2025 RETROSPECTIVE, investments in TRADE CENTERS

Retail chains in Serbia were not only market players last year, they were often the main villains in the political and public narrative. On several occasions, they were declared fraudsters, accused of “harvesting enormous revenues,” of being the key drivers of inflation, of deceiving consumers and damaging the state. In such a context, retail is often seen as a convenient culprit for the price increase that affects every citizen.

The state’s response to such a perception came through the regulation on margin limits, which was changed and redefined on several occasions. Each new decision was accompanied by the message that the market would “be brought into order,” while at the same time announcing that additional competition would create fairer conditions, lower prices and greater consumer protection.

And indeed, judging by the announcements, in this and the coming years, we can expect new retail chains - Russian, German, Italian, international, but also regional ones.

In parallel with these discussions, the retail map of Serbia was also changing physically. New retail parks were emerging in larger cities, but also in areas that had not been the focus of investors until then.

Below, we bring you a list of the most read news in the field of investments in trade centers that marked the year behind us.

1. The Russians are coming (again)...

Two Russian retail chains, owned by the same owner - Mere and Svetofor - already operate in Serbia, and the announcement that a third one was coming, Fix Price, attracted the most attention from our readers last year. This company announced that it planned to open its first stores in Serbia in the first quarter of 2026.

Fix Price opened its first store in 2007, and today it operates through a network of around 7,700 stores in ten markets. In addition to Russia, the company is present in Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and the United Arab Emirates. The group was listed on the Astana International Exchange in 2023, after which it redomiciled to Kazakhstan.

2. Sumadija investors investing in retail

At the end of last year, Arandjelovac and the entire Sumadija region received a new shopping destination – ARA Plaza, a retail park that extends over more than 15,000 m2 of retail space. According to CBRE, which is the exclusive agent for the leasing of retail space within ARA Plaza, almost all premises were leased before opening.

The investor of the project is the company Pestan from Arandjelovac.

More than 25 tenants operate within ARA Plaza, including brands from the fashion, sports, home equipment and drugstore segments.

3. European chains want to enter Serbia

The Carrefour retail chain is also getting closer to entering the Serbian market. In November, a meeting was held between the Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade, Jagoda Lazarevic, and representatives of this international retail chain. At that time, it was announced that Carrefour in Serbia was planning franchises and cooperation with domestic suppliers.

Carrefour is one of the leading retail chains in Europe, present in more than 30 countries, with revenues measured in tens of billions of euros.

4. Lidl selling in Valjevo

The news that Lidl Serbia has issued a call for bids for the sale of construction land in Valjevo has also caught your attention.

The subject of the sale is an undeveloped land area of 5,843 m2 located in a zone designated for commercial use.



5. Germans love our market

In November, Erich Harsch, CEO of the German home and garden chain Hornbach, confirmed that the company also planned to enter the Serbian market.

Hornbach Baumarkt announced that it had established subsidiaries in Serbia in order to prepare for entering the Serbian market. Development priorities include selecting excellent locations and acquiring new regional suppliers.

The company told the Retail Serbia portal that it did not expect the first mega stores to open before the end of 2027.

6. Roda megamarkets becoming Idea

The company Idea Marketi, formerly Mercator-S, plans to rebrand all Roda megamarkets into IDEA facilities in the next few years, the company confirmed.

– The rebranding of Roda in Sabac is the first project of its kind. Given that we have 32 Roda markets in the retail network across Serbia, the rebranding will be a major project, so the plan is to implement it in the coming years. IDEA Super in Sabac will show us the direction we need to go, taking into account consumer habits and reactions, the location of the store, as well as other factors that are important to us in this assessment – Idea Marketi confirmed to the portal Retail Serbia.



Given the higher pricing policy of Idea stores compared to Roda megamarkets, Idea Marketi could not provide an answer regarding the pricing policy of the two brands and whether the former Roda facilities would bring higher prices after the rebranding.

7. Trade the Italian way

The Italian Eurospin has been actively working on entering the Serbian market for a year now. We can expect their first stores in the next two years, it was recently announced.

Unofficially, the company Eurospin EKO, which manages branches in Slovenia and Croatia, has determined the first locations in Serbia. Through its representative, Eurospin recently advertised a large number of open job positions for the headquarters in Serbia with several months of training in Croatia and Italy.

Eurospin today operates in 1,300 locations in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Malta and employs more than 22,000 workers. In 2024, the company achieved nearly ten billion euros in turnover.

8. Macedonians first in the south, but also Pancevo

One of the largest Macedonian retail chains, Stokomak, officially entered the Serbian market last year. The first store was opened in April in Pirot, in the Senjak neighborhood.

It was announced at the time that the first phase of the expansion envisaged the opening of modern discount stores in Pirot, Nis (the move near Novo Selo), Paracin, Leskovac and Pancevo, and the company is in final negotiations for several more locations. The Stokomak retail chain was founded in 1997 and currently operates in more than 70 locations across North Macedonia.

9. The first lifestyle retail park in Serbia

A well-known retail investor, the Israeli company BIG CEE Serbia, opened the first lifestyle retail park in Serbia in Sabac in October.



The facility is located on the site of the Dragan Srnic printing house. On an area of 16,500 m2, BIG Sabac brings together more than 45 domestic and international brands.

10. Futura Park in Paracin expanding

At the end of the year, the Municipal Administration of Paracin issued a certificate of application for the construction of a shopping mall in Paracin, which fulfilled the conditions for the start of the implementation of this project.

The investor is the company Juga-Coop doo Paraćin, and this is a new phase of the Futura Park shopping center project in that city.

The planned building is a ground-floor facility (GF+0). The gross construction area of the building is 6,449.65 m2, while the net area is 6,326.74 m2. The estimated value of the works is estimated at 165.5 million dinars.

We also invite you to see which investments marked the year 2025 in the field of REAL ESTATE.

I. Zikic

FIX PRICE RS DOO BEOGRAD

CBRE d.o.o. Beograd

Peštan doo Bukovik

Carrefour doo Beograd

Lidl Srbija KD Nova Pazova

Hornbach d.o.o. Beograd

EUROSPIN RETAIL d.o.o. Beograd

Idea Marketi doo Beograd

Stokomak doo Niš

JUGA-COOP PARAĆIN

CEE-BIG Management doo Beograd

Fix Price

CBRE

Peštan from Aranđelovac

Carrefour

Lidl

Hornbach

Eurospin

Stokomak

Idea Marketi

BIG CEE Serbia

ARA Plaza

Futura Park in Paraćin

2025 RETROSPECTIVE investments in TRADE CENTERS