VillA Arena

Located the south-east of Amsterdam, just 10km from the city centre, Villa ArenA provides Dutch shoppers with an experience beyond that of an average shopping precinct.

The 79,787 square metre mall encompasses six restaurants, bars, styling advice, professional interior designers, Arena Arcade (home to prestigious megastores) and, to top it off, the Woonmall Villa ArenA Football stadium, home ground of the Ajax team.

With more than a million visitors a year, Villa ArenA houses all major home brands with an accent on interior and styling for the home and business, acting as a one-stop-shop for consumers to re-model to their desired style.

The Villa ArenA mall is home to a total of 60 home-furnishing shops and is open seven days a week. The shops are considered to have the best offerings in home décor and design in the Netherlands.

The range includes products from a budget price range all the way to premium, attracting a diverse range of clientele to the store and the broader precinct.

With access free interior advice by appointment through the centre’s creative interior stylist, shoppers feel a sense of personalisation to their experience.

Another convenient, unique and free service offered by the shopping precinct, is Villa Playtime.

Villa Playtime is a free children’s playground operating on weekends with qualified carers on-site so parents can complete their shopping uninterrupted.

Since its opening in 2001, Villa ArenaA has been praised for its futuristic exterior and design, which complement its neighbouring Arena Arcade megastores and Woonmall Football Stadium.

Attendees on the recent LFRA Study Tour took in the vast space of the precinct and the way patrons can shop, move on to bars and restaurants and then head straight on to a football game.

It’s a uniqueness that perhaps wouldn’t translate to Australia without vast space to accommodate all three areas of the precinct while being central and accessible to the city centre.

Most attendees felt that the free day care and interior design services to drive customer shopping are options that Large Format Retail precincts could consider in Australia.