European market leader in the inner city shopping center sector, ECE, will take into operation its 100th shopping center tomorrow.

In the Arkády Pankrác in Prague, approximately 140 shops are presented on three retail floors with a total retail space of approximately 45,000 sq m. “The successful opening of Arkády Pankrác is a milestone for ECE", states Alexander Otto, CEO of the ECE management. “As our 100th shopping center in Europe, it stands for a long-term oriented company strategy."

This approach of long-term planning and ongoing engagement in the respective locations has paid off during ECE’s more than 40-year-long history. Founded in 1965 by the mailorder business pioneer Werner Otto, the company opened its first shopping center on October 23, 1969: the Franken-Zentrum in Nürnberg-Langwasser, which after several expansion and optimizing measures is still one of the most successful centers in Germany. After that, further developments followed, among them the Alstertal-Einkaufszentrum in Hamburg-Poppenbüttel (1970) and the Rhein-Center in Köln-Weiden (1972). They, too, were repeatedly enlarged and modernized in the course of the following years so as to meet the rising customer requirements. And just like all ECE developments, they remain under their management.