My Trip to the Mall

On Thursday September 28th, the newest mall in Europe opened and it’s called the Galeria Krakowska. This was big news for Krakow as they’ve been working on the site for as long as I’ve been coming here. It’s at the crossroads of two major streets right outside of the Stare Miasto (Old Town) area and 5 minutes from my office and my flat. It is also right next to the main railway station so should pull in a lot of tourists on their way into Krakow. So with all of the hype, I decided that I would head on over to the mall and experience yet another first time activity – a mall grand opening.

Walking inside you would think that you are entering any new mall in the U.S. It has 3 floors with 270 shops and 1400 parking spots. (I am reading from the promo material.) Of the 9 restaurants in the food court, 4 we know from the U.S.: KFC, Subway, Mandarin Oriental and McDonald’s. Walking around the mall one sees many names that look like they are taken right out of anywhere, U.S.A. There is a Levi Strauss and Co. shop right next to a Lee Wrangler store. Then there is Benetton, Burlington, Hilfiger Denim, Timberland, Athlete’s Foot, Reebok’s, and of course, Nike.

Some of the differences are the preponderance of cafes. There’s even one that serves hot chocolate which is actually melted chocolate that is served like hot cocoa. (They serve hot milk on the side.) The melted chocolate comes from a fountain much like a champagne fountain at a special event. And then there are no less than 12 lingerie stores. Not that I was counting, of course. Okay, I was counting. (They sure like their lingerie in this town, or so my colleague Tulio has been heard saying.)

The mall is part of an office and hotel complex. I.P. is set to lease space in the office section for its I.T. organization. The offices are located above the shopping floors allowing you to peer down to the stores. The parking is on the top two floors and is accessible by taking the escalator as if you were going to another floor of stores. The exterior of the building is illuminated internally so that each night finds the skin basking in a different color. Sort of like the spire of the Empire State Building and the exterior of the Alliance Arena in Berlin.

I am not a big mall person so I don’t find myself getting over their much. But it is a convenient place for lunch as the training team has found over the past month.