Planning a study trip to Vilnius I was asked the question if there were enough shopping centres in Eastern Europe worth seeing.

Having seen the coastal town Klaipeda crowded with half empty externally located retail parks, shopping centres and Grocery stores save for a couple of exceptions I must admit I also faltered in my belief. Luckily a recent trip to Riga revealed both Galerija Centrs and Spice as good examples.

Newsec’s recent visit to Vilnius made me and my colleagues, all very experienced in the retail business, praise the centre Akropolis - a Shopping Centre chain also present in the Lithuanian cities Klaipeda, Kaunas and Siauliai. (Yes, that’s right - Akropolis is one of the exceptions in Klaipeda).

One could say that Akropolis have ticked all the right boxes; from commercial design and signage to tenant mix. On top of the centres having been developed by the book – a couple of years on they are still looking spotless and are managed very well.

And, just to be clear, Akropolis is not the only good shopping centre in the Baltics, far from it – but as a chain of shopping centres they have made a significant contribution to the market.