Despite the surge of development, industry observers such as Colliers Bulgaria Managing Director Atanas Garov maintain that the escalating supply can be absorbed. "Prospects are very promising," says Garov. "The Bulgarian retail market is still vastly undersupplied, and tenants are bullish on their expansion plans." Even so, the research can be helpful in assessing what markets offer the best opportunities, offers Philip Bay, regional director of Colliers International Southeast Europe.

Colliers' data shows three major new shopping centers that broke ground this year have had a substantial impact, including the Carrefour Mall and Serdika Center, both in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. Besides those two projects, the Stara Zagora market celebrated the groundbreaking of Mall Stara Zagora, a complex that will feature 200,000 sf of retail space when completed in 2009.

Perhaps the most aggressive slate of retail construction is underway in Varna. Five new ventures underway in the city are located within a two-mile radius, Colliers notes. Two of them, Pfobe Mall and Mall Varna, are expected to be delivered to the market by next year.

"Varna is shaping up to be a very competitive market for shopping center developers and investors," says Colliers Bulgaria GM Ivan Velkov, with his firm so encouraged that Colliers has opened an office in Varna to accommodate clients seeking entry into the region.