Stockmann department store launching extensive expansion

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The Stockmann department store on the corner of Mannerheimintie and the main Helsinki shopping thoroughfare Aleksanterinkatu is to be expanded both by building new sales space on top of what is now the glass ceiling in the main atrium, and also by adding more space to the underground delicatessen and food hall. When completed, the whole space beneath Keskuskatu and across to the Academic Bookstore (also owned by Stockmann) will become a shopping area.
      The store's restaurants will be moved from the sixth to the eighth floor, forming a "restaurant world" that will be able to accommodate up to 950 customers. A new glass roof above the restaurants is to let in more natural light than before.
      Furthermore, the sixth and seventh floors will be converted to commercial use.
     
There will also be 600 new parking spaces on three levels in a garage under Mannerheimintie. Moreover, a pickup point will be provided for those customers who need to load heavy goods into their vehicles.
      In the future, it will be easier to move around in the store, as 40 new or renewed elevators and escalators will be added to the building. After the renovation, the total number of elevators or escalators in the entire building will be over 100. One of the freight elevators will be as tall as the 72-metre tower of Helsinki's Olympic Stadium.
      Furthermore, also the ventilation, cooling, and lightning systems will all be improved.
     
The renovation of the department store is to be carried out gradually with a minimum of disruption to sales activities. Hence, no departments are to be closed - not even for a short period.
     
The project will cost EUR 125 million, and is to be finished by 2010.
      Since the most recent expansion of the store in 1989, the current sales area has covered 40,000 square metres, or four hectares. The expansion will bring one more hectare of floor space.
     
Construction portacabins have already been set up on Mannerheimintie. By the end of the current month, they are to be covered by sculptor Martti Aiha's work of art, made of vinyl and measuring 50 by 6 metres.
      Since the excavation work for the new underground garage started, some rock blasting has been carried out beneath the building. The garage will be ready by the end of 2008, whereupon the current parking ramp on Keskuskatu will be closed.
      Once the garage is completed, a new parking ramp will be opened from Kalevankatu. The garage will also be connected to the goods handling and maintenance area.
      Currently, some 200 delivery vans drive into the department store using the parking ramp on Keskuskatu, while in the future, all vehicles are to use the maintenance tunnel that is to be built under the city centre. Once the tunnel is complete, Keskuskatu will be turned into a pedestrian street. 


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Excuse me, could you direct me to the absolute centre of Helsinki? (25.4.2006)
  Expansion of Stockmann to affect traffic in city centre for years (24.1.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat