Mega Nizhniy Novgorod

IKEA subsidiary IKEA MOS began construction in summer 2005 on a 48-hectare site near the village of Fedyakovo in Kstovsky district, just outside Nizhny Novgorod, and opened the completed complex on October 19, 2006. With a leasable area of roughly 125,000 sqm, and the IKEA store itself occupying about 24,000-25,000 sqm, the center opened with Auchan, OBI and M.Video as its other anchors alongside more than 150 additional fashion and footwear stores, an ice rink, and a food court for 800 diners.

IKEA paused all Russian retail operations on March 3, 2022, and despite repeated statements from Ingka Group about hoping to return “someday,” the furniture stores never reopened; the broader Mega mall chain, however, stayed open throughout, since the malls and the IKEA furniture stores were always operated as related but distinct businesses. Ingka Centres sold the entire 14-property Mega chain, including this one, to Gazprombank in September 2023. OBI’s German parent also exited Russia in 2022, selling its local stores to Russian investors who have continued operating them under the same OBI branding.

Megamarket, the Sber-owned online marketplace, agreed in April 2024 to lease the vacated IKEA space across all 14 Mega centers nationally, roughly 400,743 sqm in total, converting the space into fulfillment warehouses for third-party sellers rather than reopening it as consumer-facing retail; the company has also floated testing a pickup-point format with returns and fitting-room service in some locations. This specific IKEA footprint at Mega Nizhny Novgorod, roughly 24,000-25,000 sqm, is part of that nationwide arrangement rather than an independent local deal.

H&M, Mango, Zara, Uniqlo and Marks & Spencer were among the international brands that operated in Mega centers nationally before 2022 and have since exited Russia; Askona and Ormatek continue to anchor the home-furnishings floor at this specific property, with Henderson and Zarina carrying domestic fashion.

The mall’s continued operation under new ownership, even after its founding anchor tenant’s exit, illustrates a pattern across Russia’s post-2022 retail market: the physical infrastructure and its original anchor brand were separable assets, and losing the anchor didn’t force closure of the broader shopping center built around it.