Marrakech - The Carré Eden Shopping centre on Avenue Mohammed V in Marrakech opened on May 8.
The imposing building designed by architect Karim El Achak has a Starbucks Café beside it, the first in Marrakech. There are sixty shops with major brands of casual clothing and fashionable sportswear lining the front and left side entrance, including Adidas, Guess, Lacoste, Moroccan Touch, and Mayoral .
On the lower floor, there is a well-stocked Carrefour supermarket, substantial underground parking space for 600 vehicles, and more branded clothing and cosmetic stores, including Flormar, Yves Rocher, and Beauty Secret. The HM clothing store is present on all three floors of the shopping centre. Coming shortly to the mall will be a food court, which will include options such as Dominos Pizza, La Table de Marché, De Gino’s restaurant, Sushi Club, and Wok to Walk.
The hotel, residential centre, and shopping centre are major new additions to central Marrakech, and fill a gap in shopping in Gueliz. This grand opening is just the beginning and much remains to be completed— there will be new surprises to come. Be on the lookout for more branded stores selling items such as fashionable leather goods, jewelry, watches, men’s shoes, and more formal attire. Zara and the shops on Marrakech Plaza are also selling casual clothing, though not the same brands.
The new part of Marrakech is becoming a burgeoning modern metropolis with wide streets and avenues and superb green parks, such as the Majorelle Garden, The El Harti Park, and the Moulay Arset Cyber Park. To remember the charm of Gueliz as it was years ago, one must remember a small town with lovely villas and shops filled with leather goods—pirated, but beautiful just the same—the Vieille Marché, where you could buy flowers and the roses were everywhere, and the small stores had all you could want for your kitchen.
Those days are long gone, as Marrakech has grown and its international reputation booms. However, one hopes that, along with the glitz and glamour, some of those things that have made Marrakech truly special—particularly its architecture in the Gueliz—survive. The Carré Eden Centre remains true to the preservation of Marrakech’s unique architectural heritage because it is stylish, graceful, and blends in very well with the Red City.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed