Athens Metro Mall

Living in Greece

A practical guide to moving, living, working & traveling in Greece, plus musing and misadventures from an American in Athens

The Athens Metro Mall or Μετρο Μαλλ opened November 30, 2010, featuring 85 stores, 18 cafes and restaurants, free Wi-Fi and a Volta Fun Park for kids on 21,500 sq. meters, just above the Ag. Dimitrios metro station. It is the first mall in the southern suburbs.

Its official website launched in Greek only, a week after the mall opened, and finally offers a partial English version as of April 2011: www.athensmetromall.gr.

My article — created before the official website and in English — will be left in place for anyone seeking one-page access to info and reviews.

*Article last updated December 12, 2014

Copyrighted Photo from Maria Kotsari

Location

Address:
Leof. Vouliagmenis 276
17343 Ag. Dimitrios
Athens, Greece

Phone/fax: (210) 9769 444
Email: info@talimaventure.com

Hours of Operation

Shops:
Monday–Friday: 9:00–21:00
Saturday: 9:00–20:00

*During the Christmas season, shops open Sunday but close on major holidays. See “Holiday shopping hours for Athens.”

Cafes, Restaurants and Cinema:
Sunday–Thursday: 9:00–late
Friday/Saturday: 9:00–later.*

*Information on the brochure says “until early morning hours.”

The Information Desk said that cafes and fast food outlets are open until 22:00 or midnight, with restaurant/bars staying open until 1:00 or 2:00. The cinema closes whenever the last movie ends. But let’s remember that the parking garage closes at 2:00.

Banks:
Summer
Monday–Friday: 9:00-21:00
Saturday: 9:00–20:00

Winter
Monday–Thursday: 9:00-15:30
Friday: 9:00-15:00
Saturday: Closed

Directions

By Athens metro (easiest):
Take Line 2 (red) toward Ag. Dimitrios, which is currently the last stop. When getting off the train, go to the right toward Vouliagmenis/Metaxa, then up the stairs/escalator. Go right again and up the stairs/escalator. It’s on top of you!

By bus:
Take lines #219, 816 to bus stop ‘Terma/Τέρμα’ at Plateia Panagouli.
or
Take lines #109, 154, 155, 171, 210, 219, A3, A4, B3, X97, 790 to bus stop ‘Darzenta/Δαρζέντα.’

*Buses 113, 208, 213, B4 are listed on the brochure and website but were discontinued by OASA on December 1, 2011.

By car:
It’s on Leof. Vouliagmenis. On the right side of the road, if going toward Glyfada. On the left side of the road, if traveling toward the center/kentro.

Parking

Parking is free/δωρεάν but limited to 1,200 spaces on three levels. Special parking for disabled persons available.

Hours of operation:
Summer
Monday–Friday 05:20–02:00
Saturday–Sunday 05:20–02:00

Winter
Monday–Friday 05:20–02:00
Saturday–Sunday 08:00–02:00

Places to Shop

The front entrance is on the 1st floor, with the ground, 1st and 2nd floors for shopping. Stores are closed on Sunday, but the mall is open for window shopping.

Adidas
Benetton
Guess
H&M
Imaginarium
Mango
Public
Pull & Bear
Swatch
Tommy Hilfiger
Zara

Where to Eat

Fast-food places and most cafes are on the 3rd floor with a large outdoor balcony area where guests can sit and eat, plus Village Cinemas on the far side. On the 4th floor is a roof garden with La Pasteria, Flocafe and TGI Friday’s.

Cinnabon — What’s a Cinnabon? Click the link. Also see “First Cinnabon in Athens” for photos/review.
Flocafe
Goody’s
KFC
La Pasteria
~~Taco Bell — See “New Taco Bell in Athens, Greece” for photos/review.~~ *Closed
TGI Friday’s

Interested in other American franchises? See “Taste of America in Greece.”

History

Owner Panagiotis Konstantinou of Talima Venture is a Greek from Venezuela, whose grandfather emigrated to Brazil in 1949 and then moved to Venezuela where the next generation started in real estate.

The family purchased the Agios Dimitrios plot in 1995, applied for a building permit in 2000 and didn’t receive approval until 2007, forcing them to open during a recession. Three years and €75 million later, the mall is open and has created 1,000 local jobs.

Another Mall in Athens?

If you think Athens has too many malls, hold onto your shopping bag. Athenian Capitol, an eco-friendly mall and vintage car museum began operating December 22, 2010 near the National Archaeological Museum after several delays; Stasinopoulos expects to welcome shoppers at the Kifissos Mall next to IKEA in 2011; McArthur Glenn opened its Athens Designer Outlet Village in Spata on June 2, 2011 and Smart Park set up shop next door in October 2011.

Attica Department stores will also open a branch in Thessaloniki at Mediterranean Cosmos, as of March 2012.

Though malls in Greece report sales are down 10 percent despite foot traffic being up, this is far better than most retail shops recording an up to 50 percent decrease in turnover.

Sources

First-hand experience
Athens Metro Mall brochure from the Information Desk
“Consumers in Greece prefer shopping malls” — To Vima
“Επτά χρόνια για μια… απλή αδειοδότηση” — Kathimerini
“Επενδύσεις 300 εκατ. για 4 νέα malls” — Imerisia
“New mall to open in recession-hit Greece” — Kathimerini
“Opening Night at Ag. Dimitrios” — Village Cinemas
“30 Νοεμβρίου, το Athens Metro Mall” — Eleftherotypia
“Athenian Capitol: Νέος πολυχώρος ανοίγει στο κέντρο της Αθήνας” — Imerisia
“Future shopping malls in Athens may only be located near former Olympic stadium or metro station” — Kathimerini
“McArthurGlen spends 100 million euros on first store in Greece” — Bloomberg
Countdown page, now broken: www.metromall.gr

“Athens Metro Mall Cocktail Party” with Photos — Go Stylish
“Golden Hall in Athens”
“Summer and winter sales in Greece”

About

Kat is a well-traveled American journalist and author. To learn more, see “About Me.”

Livingingreece.gr was created in 2007 to present meticulously researched original articles that fill a gap left by traditional media, government portals and commercial websites/forums run by people without credentials.
@LivinginGreece is a Twitter feed curated from recognized Greek and international news agencies to provide breaking news about Greece, plus real-time updates and insider tips mined from 15 years experience.

Please note my copyright policy and be aware that plagiarism and copyright violations will be pursued.

http://bit.ly/athensmetromall

Permalink

12 Comments

ΘΑΝΑΣΗΣ wrote @ December 7th, 2010 at 19:01

ΨΑΧΝΩ ΓΙΑ ΔΟΥΛΕΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΔΕΝ ΞΕΡΩ ΠΟΥ ΝΑ ΑΠΕΥΘ/ΘΩ.

Kat Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 01:56

Αυτή τη στιγμή δεν υπάρχουν κενές θέσεις εργασίας. Most stores hired employees many months ago to finish the paperwork and train them, and the vacancies were advertised in kariera.gr and on individual company websites (i.e., Public, H&M, Village Cinemas).

Paul wrote @ December 8th, 2010 at 10:28

Now WITH TACO BELL!

McKroes wrote @ December 30th, 2010 at 00:32

Hi Kat,

A Taco Bell in Greece! let’s see how long it will survive….

DMikeyV wrote @ February 7th, 2011 at 20:18

I recently moved to Athens and love it. Being retired and a homebody by nature, I prefer “designing” my own meals at home -except, for the real deal authentic Greek favorites. This site has been squeezed and turned every which way and I am glad because many of my own questions were asked — some of them, repeated too many times!!! Don’t you people read?!? Kat, you have incredible patience.

Imagine this: I am diabetic but am “jonesing” for Krispy Kreme and know they do not exist here. Another one is Cinnabons and I am happy to learn they exist. I will go to the Mall mentioned here check it out. Tacos, another of my faves will be tested there (Mall), so we’ll see about that. Keep up this incredible work, Kat – and thanks for being here. My appreciation for Athens has increased a lot since finding and reading this entire post. ~DMikeyV (expat having lived in Istanbul for two years, now in Greece)

Kat Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 01:44

Cinnabon is a favorite of mine also, and I learned to make my own at home from scratch during the decade I waited for them to get to Greece. Three advantages: a) They’re cheaper; b) no excess packaging; c) I can eat as much frosting as I want. 😉 You can make your own tacos with the El Paso taco shells from AB Vassilopoulos in the ethnic aisle.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read what’s on offer and your kind compliment. My stated policy is to delete repeat questions, but there’s a part of me that is empathetic to digesting the complexity of bureaucracy in Greece. It does get annoying at times because I already took the trouble to clearly and concisely write out everything in English, and I admit to thinking exactly what you said. Then a reader I helped gives back to the website or someone recognizes the amount of work/time/patience I invested, and I forget all about it. I appreciate you being one of those people.

Hope to see you again.

yiannos wrote @ March 2nd, 2011 at 15:15

I heard most of the bigger malls were cancelled though, like the one that was meant to be 100,000 sqm. This one is quite small. i’ll be interested to see how the others go. You are right that Greeks have really taken to the whole mall concept. There are still nowhere near as many in Greece as there are in other countries–Athens has what, 3-4 modern ones now? not including department stores–but they are proving to be quite popular.

I’m surprised they didn’t build them in Greece years ago.

Kat Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 21:34

At last count in February, there were 18 shopping centers in Athens of which six are considered malls.

The bigger malls have not been canceled. There are 11 more scheduled to open in Attica and four more just outside city limits, one of which will be 120,000 sq m. In my opinion 21 malls in Athens for a population of under 5 million people is overkill.

If you read the ‘History’ section, it says that the owner bought the plot in 1995 and applied for the permit in 2000 so people did want to build them earlier, but Greece’s infamous red tape and foot-dragging prevented such.

McKroes wrote @ March 7th, 2011 at 00:10

Hi Kat,

Tried Taco Bell 🙂 it was fine, never ate TB before so was my first encounter with this concept. If you would like to use a pic of TB Athens, it’s on flickr.

greetz S

Maria wrote @ March 9th, 2011 at 10:45

Hey guys!

I love Taco Bell!! I used to eat in the states, at least once a day. Pathetically enough, I contemplated moving to Greece on many decisions, including the fact that Taco bell didn’t exist. When I went to the new mall the first time and saw Taco Bell, you can say I had a small heart attack! I thought I was dreaming. Then I called all my friends from the states and everyone told me the same thing: “Didn’t you see Kat’s post?” LOL I am so happy! The prices are the same, as well, which was very surprising!

P.S. they always give free coupons too! Buy one quesadilla and get an enchilada for free!! Thank you Taco Bell!

Kat Reply:
March 10th, 2011 at 01:10

Yes, Maria, didn’t you see Kat’s post? 😉 You’ve been so good in spreading the word about my website to your friends, you missed the info on Taco Bell!

Karen in California wrote @ October 28th, 2012 at 21:59

So very nice to meet you.

Can I trouble you with a question please? My nephew moved to Greece about 6 years ago and he loves it there. Something I am now so confused about is I keep being told there are no shopping malls in Greece. When I heard this I asked my sister what on earth people do when they want/need clothes, electronics, etc. I mean, good grief, where do they go to see a movie?

My sister says they also don’t have grocery stores. Say what!!!??? She says the only way is to go to the local stores…..ie Bakery for bread, Butcher Shop for meat etc.

They live in Thessaloniki.

Your site is going to help educate me!!

Thanks so very much!!

Sorry, comments are closed at this time.

Living in Greece