Zara will open his largest shop in the world in Belgium in Belgium

The Spanish Group of Inditex clothing chooses Antwerp for the largest Zara store in the world. The new flagship will rise in the heart of shopping of the Belgian port city, on three floors with a record extension of 14,500 square meters, inside the Meir Corner, The prestigious real estate complex currently under construction on the corner of Meir and Jezusstraat.
The spaces were rented by the real estate companies Tans Urban Landmarks and Urbicoon. « Zara wants to open large shops in all the main cities in the world, to offer a unique and complementary purchasing experience to e-commerce, » said Nicolas Beausillon, CEO of the Ban Urs Urban Landmarks real estate company, who edited the contract with the company. An agreement that, according to Beusillon, represents « the most important retail agreement in Belgium in recent years ».

The size

The new Zara will arise on the area that once housed the Proximus building. The construction site, already started, also provides for the realization of the future campus of the Karel de Grote University College. A significant part of the property will however be dedicated to the commercial space occupied by the Spanish brand, which has decided to transfer its store already present on the Meir to fit into a more ambitious and modern architectural project. The current shop is located, smaller, 200 meters from the new headquarters. The new will exceed the size of the Zara flagship opened last year in Holland in Rotterdam (9 thousand square meters) and that in Plaza de España, in Madrid. The completion of the building is scheduled for the second half of 2026, while the inauguration of the new Zara flagship could take place a few months later, during 2027.

The shopping route

The choice confirms the role of the city as the capital of fashion and shopping in Belgium. According to the CBBA estimates, the exclusive consultant of Meir Corner, the Meir is the most expensive shopping route in Belgium Although the average prices in the country are still relatively low compared to other European cities (fashion). Considering that commercial rentals have an average of around 1,700 euros per square meter per year, the rent for the space occupied by Zara could approach (in an open -ending way) to the 25 million euros per year, even if the economic terms of the agreement have not been made public.

The numbers

The Galician group closed 2024 with uphill sales of 7.5%, to 38.6 billion, a gross profit at an altitude of 22.3 billion (7.6%) and a gross margin that reached 57.8%thanks to « a business model – said the CEO of Inditex, Oscar García Maceiras – which, 50 years after the opening of our first shop, continues to be ambitious, strong ».