On April 15, 1957, Central Department Store was opened in Sofia. The first socialist mall, built according to the Soviet model and considered the largest in the Balkans. But for the generations before 1989, it meant much more than shopping. The building was designed by architect Kosta Nikolov in 1956 and was built a year later in the architectural center of Sofia, the so-called Largo.
Central Department Store was opened in 1957, a year after the April Plenum. The building is still magnificent today - a retail area of 19,000 sq. m. on 6 floors, another 11,000 sq. m. of office space on three levels. The first escalators in our country were also installed here. On the ground floor They offer postage stamps, philately and numismatics, jewelry, paintings, flowers, handmade souvenirs from the Guild of Masters. Children's toys are also on the first floor.
Shots from the stands were filmed in the 1970s in the film “Hedgehogs are Born Without Thorns“. On the second floor are “ladies' goods“, and on the third level – “men's“. Guitars were sold on the top floor. Advertising brochures called “A Week in Sofia“ appeared, in which a visit to the Central Department Store was included in the mandatory program.
A major reconstruction of the building was carried out in 1986 under the leadership of arch. Atanas Nikolov. Until 1998, the Central Department Store operated as a department store for ready-to-wear, perfumery, cosmetics, and electronics, and after the renovation in 2001 In 2001, in which a British team participated, it was reopened as a shopping center, housing stores of various brands and chains. 3 years later, the building was bought by businessman Georgi Gergov for 30 million euros. Since then, the fate of the Central Department Store has been constantly in question. Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov suggested that the building should house the National History Museum. Most recently, under the GERB government, the Minister of Culture Vezhdi Rashidov negotiated with Gergov, as the businessman was losing money on the Central Department Store due to competition from malls and would gladly get rid of it, in exchange for compensation with attractive state buildings for him.