More than 150,000 people packed the BIG Fashion Glilot shopping center over the weekend - 70,000 of them on Saturday alone. Despite the traffic jams and congestion at the entrance and exit, and parking problems the stores in what is now Israel's biggest mall reported huge sales. BIG Shopping Centers reports that this is the best opening for a shopping complex in Israel to date, and the fashion stores in the strip mall recorded record numbers of visits and sales for a shopping center in Israel. According to preliminary data, average sales per square meter were NIS 150-200 per square meter on each of the days.
The Lego store that opened in the Glilot shopping center attracted more than 3,000 customers, while the Adidas store was visited by over 10,000 customers. About 70% of the stores in the complex were open on Saturday. Among the stores not open on Saturday were the Zara flagship store and the Golf store. The restaurants and cafes were fully booked throughout the weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, around 2pm, BIG was forced to announce that the shopping center was full, and recommended that customers come later in the week.
BIG Shopping Centers CEO Hay Galis said, "Over the weekend, the Big Fashion Glilot center recorded record visitors and payments, and due to the large number of visitors, we were forced to issue a statement that the center was full, the access roads were congested, and we recommended coming later in the week. This is the best opening to date in Israel for a shopping complex, and we are confident that the place will change the rules of the game in Israel."
Galis added regarding the congestion and delays in exiting the parking lot, that the issue is being addressed, and that the company believes that this is a one-time event that resulted from the large number of visitors.
BIG Fashion Glilot, just north of Tel Aviv in Ramat Hasharon, opened last Thursday. Spread over 44 dunam (11 acres) with 43,000 square meters of commercial space and 169,000 square meters of parking and services space, alongside a 43-floor office tower with 75,000 square meters of office space and 4,000 parking spaces, NIS 2 billion was invested in construction of the center.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 2, 2025.
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