With great fanfare, a new shopping mall opened in New Belgrade last week. It is called the Usce (oosh-chay) Mall and it is the largest in the Balkans. Usce means confluence, and it refers to the confluence, or meeting of the Sava and Danube (Dunav is Serbian) Rivers. The mall is on the northern New Belgrade side of the city, near the confluence.
The mall is the largest in the Balkans and it may be a victim of bad timing.Despite the global recession, there were big crowds. I am not a big shopper, but women are pleased with the quality of the clothing stores. New Belgrade has two large shopping malls (Delta City & Mercator) but this one is more conveniently located, being closer to the river and the older part of the city. The other two malls are always busy so it seems like this will relieve the pressure, but I don’t see how the average Belgrader can afford most of the products. Generally, prices for clothes, electronics, etc. are more expensive than the USA and of lower quality.
You can see the Usce Tower in the left side of the photo. This is the former headquarters of the Communist Central Committee of the ex-Yugoslavia. It was constructed in 1964 and partially destroyed on April 21, 1999 by the NATO bombing. Today it is used as office space.
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