Tasku

Tartu businessman Neinar Seli built Tasku, via his company AS Estiko, on the site of Tartu’s former intercity bus station, at the corner of Turu and Soola streets facing Võidu Bridge; the property’s current, much smaller bus station is now hemmed in on three sides, including from above, by the Tasku building itself. The name “Tasku” (Estonian for “pocket”) followed the pattern locals had already set for Seli’s earlier, similarly-shaped Emajõe Ärikeskus building nearby, which Tartu residents nicknamed “Plaskus” after its silhouette.

Rimi anchors the grocery floor, with an Apollo Kino cinema (which took over the space after Cinamon, a 12-year tenant, closed in September 2020, though the space sat empty for nearly two years before Apollo opened there) and a 24/7 Gym! fitness club carrying the entertainment and leisure tier, and Rahva Raamat running a bookstore alongside a McDonald’s and several fashion retailers including H&M and New Yorker. A parent-child room, dedicated play area and family parking spaces round out the property’s family-oriented amenities.

The property sits close enough to Tartu Kaubamaja, the separate department-store-anchored center on Riia street that Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp opened in 2005, that the two are sometimes described together in Tartu shopping guides, though they operate as distinct properties under different ownership.

Tartu’s Trailblazers Alley runs alongside Tasku toward the Emajõgi River, giving the property a pedestrian connection to the riverfront that most Tartu city-center retail lacks, part of what has made it a default stop for both locals and visitors exploring the city center on foot.