Copal Shopping Centre Gets New Look, Restaurant Concept

On Tuesday 27 September 2022, the Copal shopping centre in Grevenmacher unveiled its new look during a site visit in the presence of Lex Delles, Luxembourg's Minister for Tourism and for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and Léon Gloden, Mayor of Grevenmacher.

After more than 57 years of existence, the shopping centre has undergone a complete transformation over the past three years. In 2019, the shopping centre's management along with its tenants decided to renovate the shopping centre, taking into account current ecological issues. The goal was to reuse existing resources, elements and infrastructures as much as possible.

The new concept is based on the notion of "third places", described by Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book The Great Good Place. The American sociologist defined what he called "third places" as a third place, distinct from home (the first place) and work (the second place), representing an alternative living space dedicated to meeting people, ignoring any social hierarchy.

The renovation works were entrusted to Luxembourgish architect Tatiana Fabeck. Inside the shopping centre, the partner businesses got a facelift through the creative ideas of the architect and now present a harmonious choice of warm colours. Outside, the layout has been redesigned in collaboration with the SIAS intermunicipal union. In addition to a car park with more than 250 parking spaces (with intuitive signage), the surroundings offer vast green spaces. Measures intended to preserve biodiversity, in particular wildlife, have also been put in place.

"Our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality not in 2050, but in 2030", explained Carlo Hein, representative of Copal. "This is why we want to reduce the CO2 impacts of our activity as much as possible". Among the shopping centre's new, more ecological facilities are electric charging stations for cars and bicycles, a new management system to reduce the energy consumption of the shopping centre, the installation of solar panels on the roofs and in the photovoltaic park in order to produce green energy and the strengthened insulation of the building envelope in order to avoid energy losses.

The management also saw this major renovation project as an opportunity to offer a modern and quality workplace to the tenant stores and to everyone who works on the site: more than 170 people in total, including the workforce of the Match supermarket run by Frédéric Faust, as well as shops and restaurants. "The centre's employees are at the heart of this event and it is above all they who will create this 'third place'. Nothing would have been possible without their mobilisation and motivation", emphasised Carlo Hein.

Still in this spirit, a space called "Moments" within the shopping centre will be open to various clubs, organisations, producers, suppliers and tenants in order to allow these local actors to forge links with Copal customers. "This will allow us to ensure optimal use of local resources and support social cohesion in the region", continued Carlo Hein.

For its part, the Match supermarket took advantage of the renovations to develop its services, by equipping itself with service counters for the butcher's and fishmonger's, as well as a wide selection of charcuterie, catering specialties and cheeses. Moreover, the supermarket now offers a Drive service with MatchDrive.lu; more than 12,000 products are available.

Finally, to encourage encounters and conviviality, the shopping centre has joined forces with the Urban restaurant group to launch a new restaurant concept called "La Familia". This space offers rotisserie products, pasta, pizzas and food platters to share, but also a bar with a variety of cocktails. "With La Familia, Copal offers a restaurant but also an event venue open not only at lunchtime but also in the evening, responding to the family and convivial spirit reigning within the shopping centre. A perfect meeting place for staff and customers and an additional centre of attraction for the region", commented Gabriel Boisante, manager of the establishment.