Thousands attended the Ozas Gallery Aug. 20 opening even though half the mall's storefronts are empty. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh.

VILNIUS — Even though they’re experiencing the steepest economic decline in Europe, Lithuanians can’t resist the joy of consumerism as was shown at the opening of the gargantuan Ozas Gallery shopping mall, now Vilnius’ largest.

Thousands of people clogged escalators and packed the walkways and if you bought anything, the wait at the checkout line took as long as half an hour.

At first glance, the choice to open such a large retail facility in one of the hardest-hit areas in the world by the economic crisis may appear foolish. Roughly half of the three-story mall’s storefronts remain empty, including the entire third floor, except for the games arcade.

Real estate analysts say the situation couldn’t be worse for those looking to attract shoppers.

“We can say that in this year we will probably not reach the bottom of rental prices, that means that it will happen in the first part of 2010,” Saulius Vagonis, head of market research at Ober Haus, said. “I see no shopping centers in the next five years … it will be very stupid and maybe not profitable to build new shopping centers for maybe 10 years, I’m talking about big shopping centers.”

ECE Projektmanagement, the German commercial real estate company that owns Ozas Gallery, says it isn’t worried about the crisis’ impact on the mall’s long-term profitability.

“I think we’ll succeed because we have a very good tenant mix of international chains and local ones that are good as well. The quality of the gallery is better than the other ones as all. The ECE is experienced with working in very difficult markets. Germany is a very saturated market,” Robert Hägelen, ECE Projektmanagement press coordinator, said.

“I don’t think Lithuania or Vilnius are oversupplied. We have a good chance in Vilnius to get our market share and succeed.”

Hägelen acknowledged that Ozas was having difficulty filling its huge interior, though.

“The last month was very difficult, lots of retailers, especially local ones are having lots of difficulty,” he said. “It’s not completely leased out.”

Many storefronts in the center were not open with many covered in plastic and some with the “coming soon” banner across the front. Some major chains, such as Peek & Cloppenberg even didn’t manage to get ready for the grand opening.

If the crowds keep coming like they did yesterday, the mall’s success is a foregone conclusion. But that remains to be seen.