BIG Ashdod

BIG Ashdod opened in the mid-2000s as part of BIG Shopping Centers’ early Israeli expansion, anchoring the southern coastal plain retail market with approximately 30,000 square meters of GLA. The property follows the BIG open-air power center template that Yehuda Naftali introduced to Israel with BIG Beer Sheva in 1997.

Ashdod itself is Israel’s sixth-largest city by population and the country’s largest port. The catchment combines the city’s residents with the surrounding southern coastal plain communities including Ashkelon to the south and Yavne to the north. This regional reach has supported the property’s revenue base across multiple economic cycles, and BIG completed a major expansion of the Ashdod center as part of its 2025 portfolio refresh, alongside expansions or new openings at Beersheva, Carmi Gat, Or Akiva, Migdal Ha’Emek, Gedera, and Glilot.

The format runs the standard BIG strip-mall template. Open-air streets connect free-standing buildings, with anchor tenants including supermarket and home goods operators alongside international and Israeli fashion chains, electronics retailers, drug store, beauty chains, casual dining, and quick-service restaurants. Free parking covers the catchment, and direct access from Highway 4 makes the property reachable across the southern coastal plain.

Tenant mix targets the value-driven family shopper at price points 30 to 40% below typical enclosed mall rents. This positioning differentiates the property from Sea Mall Ashdod, the city’s smaller enclosed mall that captures more of the central Ashdod walk-in trade. The two assets address different segments of the local market without direct overlap.

For brand expansion teams, BIG Ashdod offers value-tier reach into the southern coastal plain at lower rent per square meter than the enclosed Israeli mall format. International chains testing southern Israel typically pair BIG Ashdod with BIG Beer Sheva or Ofer Grand Mall Beer Sheva to cover the full regional catchment.