This will be of interest to some of us

Retail park Vazov on Sofia's Vladimir Vazov Boulevard will become one of the largest retail complexes for specialised goods in the country, with over 27 000 sq m in retail area, a total investment of which has been estimated at over 20 million euro, Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on September 9 2009.

Meanwhile, Baumax already opened the largest do-it-yourself (DIY) hypermarket in the Balkans on August 25, which is the second complex to open within the same retail park. The facility is spread on 15 741 sq m and it is the first such store from the Austrian chain that is operational in Sofia. Baumax has three other operations, in Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Bourgas.

The first phase of the Vazov business park commenced operation in 2007 with the inauguration of Technomarket. The second phase is the opening of Baumax, where the third retail chain poised to be completed and start operating in the business park will be the Mercator facility, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010.

The beginning of Baumax's operation was marked on August 26 with an official ceremony at which Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was present alongside the Minister for Regional Development Rossen Plevneliev, the mayor of Kremikovtsi Ivailo Panev, prominent Bulgarian businessmen and Nikola Sekai, executive manager of Baumax Bulgaria.

Baumax is an Austrian hypermarket chain that offers home improvement and do-it-yourself goods. The company is based in Kindberg, Austria, and opened its first store in 1976. In 2008 Baumax opened its first store in Bulgaria, located in Plovdiv, followed by stores in Stara Zagora and Burgas. The company plans to build a total of 20 stores in the coming 10 years throughout Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, Mercator, the Slovenian retail chain based in Ljubljana, invested in the Varna Towers retail center complex, and was expected to open in the autumn of 2009. Mercator's hypermarket in the Varna Towers was to be the chain's first in the seaside city and one of the first in Bulgaria.

There is also Baumax in Stara Zagora and Burgas, it's a kinf of a cross between Homebase and b&Q but only with much better stuff and a wider selection.
At Stara Zagora you also have MOBBO and Bulgaria's version of IKEA which are 2 large shops and have good bargains, there is also a very large Hypermarket called MERCATOR opening in the same retail park this is due to open this September it's a Slovenian based company and looks pretty good so far.
Jenny

Baumax has certainly made an impact here in Burgas. It has joined and instigated competition between the other big names here, Praktiker, Mr Bricollaige and the homegrown, Bulgarian outfits, Ecomat, Masterhouse and Granity.

All in all service is good at Baumax, what is interesting is that they are the first store here in Bourgas to implement a new replacement for a faulty tool. If it fails, while under guarantee!

The promotion items are hard to beat for price but some of the tiles are 'seconds', so check and double check. I also found that some of the plumbing parts were of a lesser quality but at a higher price than what could be sourced locally, cheaper. The same can be said for electrical parts such as sockets and switches.

Great news for Bulgaria that in this economic recession, these firms are expanding their operations and opening their doors in Bulgaria.

Lorka