Rents for prime space in the main shopping streets in Sofia have reached their lowest levels since 2002 shows this market analysis consultancy Forton "(Forton International). Currently, average rental rates are 55 euros / sqm at 120 euro per sq m peak in 2005 The decline in rents in the second quarter on an annual basis is over 30% for Sofia and between 43% and 50% for other major cities, reported by Forton. Low wage levels lead to consolidation of the shops in shopping streets, to meet the requirements and demands of major global brands, which are preparing to open sites Vitosha Boulevard and Graf Ignatiev in Sofia commented Forton " . This will lead to a change in the appearance of the streets themselves, and make them more attractive and bring them closer to those in other European capitals. In the centers the second quarter brought a record volume of new business areas, the study found. In operation put 163 sq m of retail space, mainly due to the opening of three major projects - The Mall of Sofia, Galeria Plovdiv in Plovdiv and Varna Grand Mall. So at the end of June total modern retail space in the country is 485 sq m. The effect is that ahead of Greece and Ukraine item retail space in malls per 1000 population, our average account for nearly 64 square meters Most shopping malls per capita is in Gabrovo - 279 sq.m. in Varna - 278 m2 In Gabrovo employs two fairly large shopping center with a population of 65 thousand inhabitants. "Record volume of new shopping centers appeared in a period of prolonged decline in consumption, leading to a high percentage of free space especially in newly constructed projects outside the capital," said Dimitar Kiferov manager "Supermarkets" in Forton. According to him the difficulties in hiring pressure on investors or postpone the opening of the mall, or freeze its construction. Over 550 sq m retail space in malls under construction are frozen. Despite sinking consumer interest in prime locations remains high, but mainly in Sofia, said Kiferov. There is still a significant difference between rents in the malls opened in the period 2006 - 2008, and the newly opened shopping centers. Rents in older establishments remain higher because the leases were signed with them before 2008 Expectations of Forton, were the market to take advantage of the less active period to restructure and emerge as new formats of retail space. Examples include retail parks, where investment costs are significantly lower than the investment in the shopping center, and thus a much shorter building.