One of the best known branches of New Hamashbir Lazarchan Ltd. (TASE:MSZB) on Jerusalem's King George Street, will move to a new location in Zion Square over the coming year. The department store chain will invest NIS 50 million in the move. The new building is owned by British-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE: BRTS), which is controlled by Leo Noe.
Hamashbir Lazarchan recently signed an agreement with British-Israel for a 24-year lease, with British-Israel paying all the investment costs related to the building itself. Hamashbir Lazarchan will operate the store using a new concept, and expects the Zion Square outlet to become its flagship store.
The façade of the branch will be a preserved building, while the department store interior will encompass 5,500 square meters on seven floors. The new branch has been planned and designed by the international shop-fitters IDW MetaWood, which is headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Speaking about the future of the building in which the Jerusalem branch is currently located, Hamashbir Lazarchan senior VP operations Nissim Hassan said, "The lease for the building has been extended for another three years. We are currently examining a number of options regarding use of the asset together with the building's owners - Israel Land Development Company (TASE: ILDC) and Co-Op Jerusalem.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 9, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009