Mondevillage, the Caen municipality’s new retail and restaurant area, is opening its doors to the public at 9:30 AM today, Wednesday 30 October. Designed by Carrefour Property, Mondevillage is the largest new retail park opening in France this year. The site hosts nearly 35 stores, enhancing the commercial appeal of both Caen and its surrounding region.
Mondevillage extends across 42,000 m² and is located to the east of Caen, in Mondeville’s leading regional commercial hub. It has a range of medium-sized stores that are in tune with customers’ needs, specialised in personal accessories, equipment for the home, culture and leisure activities, and is a major draw for people living throughout the region.
Mondevillage is optimally located and can be easily accessed via the A13 (which runs from Paris to Normandy). With a trading area that includes some 475,000 inhabitants, the new retail area will drive regional growth, enhancing the overall appeal of the region to the east of Caen and the existing range of shops in the zone, including the Etoile retail area and the Mondeville 2 shopping centre.
With its advantageous location, good accessibility and appealing design, Mondevillage is already full: nearly 95% of its stores are opening today, Wednesday 30 October, most of them completely unique (such as CCV, Cultura, Memphis Coffee, Orchestra Prémaman, and Zôdio) or featuring new concepts (such as La Halle, La Grande Récré or Flunch).
As its name suggests, Mondevillage is firmly grounded at local level, as well as having a strong association with the town in which it is located – Mondeville. At the same time, it seeks to become a “focal point in the village” for people living locally, a place where people can meet, walk, go shopping… and live.
Featuring contemporary architecture, Mondevillage has been designed as an open promenade that runs alongside the large and medium-sized stores, with a central section for restaurants and services.
To be in tune with a young population that is attached to its local roots, “happiness is in the orchard” is the idea behind the design of the whole park: the emphasis is on light, tree-lined walkways and colour schemes that are reminiscent of Normandy’s orchards.
Mondevillage is in harmony with its surrounding environment and biodiversity is an important aspect of its design: it includes 1.5 ha of green space, 300 apple and pear trees, nests for birds and even hives for bees! With its high-performance equipment and energy-management features, Mondevillage should also be the first BBC-certified retail park (Bâtiment Basse Consommation – Low-Energy Building).
