Aquis Plaza Aachen opens to the public

This 290-million euro project was developed by the project partners ECE and STRABAG Real Estate.

Located in the city center of Aachen, the Aquis Plaza, derived from the ancient name for Aachen – “Aquis Granum“, finally opens its doors to the public for an exciting year-round shopping experience. 

The top-grade shopping destination boasts of 130 outlets taken up by specialty stores, service providers, cafes, and restaurants. Thirty-three apartments covering a sales area of approximately 29,200 meter square lay within the shopping gallery. 

The shopping center boasts of approximately 600 parking spaces, with a combined workforce of 700 people. The Aquis Plaza occupies a strategic position in that it caters to a catchment area in the border triangle of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany, with a combined population of 1.2 million people.

ECE was in charge of letting out retail space to top-grade retailers and enterprises. The selection is truly epic with many of the brands being popular fashion and restaurant concept. The elegant branch and tenant mix occupy three shopping levels; with household brand names like ZARA and Saturn opening their doors in the Plaza.

Reserved and SportsCheck, are other well-known anchor tenants. Regardless, with a brilliant goal of providing the best at affordable pricing, the shopping center will be home of new entrants to the city—a whopping 70% of the retailers in the plaza. Prominent among these new entrants are Levi’s, Olymp, Salamander Schuhe, Thomas Sabo, Review, G-Star, G-Star Raw, Fynch Hatton, Skechers, and JD Sports.

International heavyweights like Veritas—this being its second store opening in Germany, Pull & Bear, Liebeskings, and ZARA Home will provide their top-quality wares to the inhabitants of the city.

Nonetheless, Aquis Plaza’s draw transcends its modern shopping center. The culinary experience in the Plaza is also an experience worth looking out for: with about 500 seats and a group of 12 food retailers. The Food Court is the heart of the cuisine showdown. The cuisine variety is exciting and there is something to soothe and energize the palate of everyone. 

The first floor of the plaza also plays host to three large restaurant areas that supplement the delectable experience offered by the Food court. These adjunct culinary spaces are accessible from the pedestrian zone. Importantly, they do not follow the opening schedule of the center; and often operate beyond the schedule of the center.

The thoughtful development of the center is centered on leaving a memorable and enjoyable shopping experience on the minds of shoppers. In light of this, there is a dual-faceted top-notched navigation system to help shoppers get around effortlessly. The system uses an innovative interaction of Google Maps and a digital 3D guidance system to offer shoppers seamless navigation. Navigation accessibility issues were well thought of in advance and implemented expertly as well. Visually impaired visitors may use a tactile plan guide to navigate the plaza. 

The Aquis Plaza also offers a functional recipe of convenient parking services, including an easy-to-park card for cashless and ticket-less parking, the Car Finder system, and the parking guidance system that identifies and displays available parking spaces.

The enriching shopping experience gets another boost with the free Wi-Fi offering. Even better, there is a selfie Photo Box, a center app, a customer lounge, and for the kids there is a kids’ playground in the food court.

The Aquis Plaza makes a big leap into the future with the use of multisensory installations. A rare implementation, the system uses lights, smell/scents, and sounds to create a bubble that elicits a cozy feeling/aura on visitors who enter the center. It is one of the boldest and most innovative system to create the perfect shopping experience for shoppers.

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Aquis Plaza

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