Most Popular Retail Locations in Prague and Brno for Store Expansion in 2025 (Updated)
When Primark’s expansion team scouted Prague for their Czech flagship, they visited three dozen street corners and shopping centres before signing at Palladium. The challenge wasn’t finding space. It was finding the right space—the one where footfall, adjacencies, and local expectations aligned with their value-fashion model. If you’re planning a store opening in Prague or Brno this year, you face the same question: which locations convert browsers into buyers, and which merely collect rent?
This guide ranks the most in-demand streets and shopping centres in both cities, explains which retail concepts fit each location, and shows you how to secure units through a platform with exclusive listings and proven market intelligence. Explore prime Retail space in Prague available on Na Příkopě, Wenceslas Square, and Pařížská Street to start shortlisting sites that match your brand positioning and expansion timeline.
Prague: Most Popular Retail Locations for 2025 Expansion
Prague remains Central Europe’s busiest retail market, blending international tourism with a growing middle class. High streets and shopping centres serve distinct audiences, and choosing the wrong category can cost you months of underperformance. Here’s where brands compete hardest—and why.
High Streets with the Strongest Demand and Brand Mix
Na Příkopě is Prague’s flagship corridor. It connects Wenceslas Square to the Municipal House, carrying over 100,000 daily pedestrians during peak season. International fashion (Zara, H&M, Mango), premium footwear (Nike, Adidas flagship), tech (Apple Store), and beauty (Sephora) anchor the mix. Tourists account for roughly 60 per cent of foot traffic in summer, dropping to 40 per cent in winter when local shoppers dominate. Units here range from 80 to 500 square metres, with ground-floor rents among the highest in the city. Brands succeed when they offer recognizable assortments, fast service, and multilingual staff. Na Příkopě retail leasing is competitive—landlords prioritize tenants with proven CEE track records and omnichannel infrastructure. If your concept relies on long dwell time or experiential theatre, consider side streets like 28. října where co-tenancy is still strong but pressure is lower.
Pařížská Street is Prague’s luxury cluster, running from Old Town Square toward the Jewish Quarter. Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Dior occupy refurbished townhouses with street-level boutiques and private salons above. The audience skews international (70 per cent non-Czech visitors), affluent, and time-rich. Rents exceed those on Na Příkopě, but landlords expect tenants to invest in bespoke fit-outs that respect historical architecture. Pařížská Street shops for rent are rarely advertised publicly—most deals happen off-market through agents with exclusive mandates. If you’re launching a luxury concept or expanding a premium watch, jewelry, or fashion brand, this is the address that signals arrival. Adjacency matters here more than anywhere else in Prague; sitting next to Bulgari elevates your brand halo, while a gap-toothed block dilutes it.
Wenceslas Square and Old Town connectors (28. října, Národní, Celetná) blend mass-market and premium retail with strong food-and-beverage penetration. Wenceslas Square itself is wide, loud, and heavily trafficked by sightseeing groups. It suits high-volume, value-oriented concepts—Marks & Spencer, C&A, and fast-food chains perform well. Národní třída attracts students and office workers, with higher conversion for convenience retail and quick-service restaurants. Celetná, a cobbled lane leading to Old Town Square, captures impulse buyers and souvenir shoppers. Units are smaller (50 to 150 square metres), rents more negotiable than Na Příkopě, and co-tenancy more variable. If you’re testing the Prague market or rolling out a second location, these streets offer retail units to let in Prague with lower entry costs and flexible lease terms.
Top Shopping Centres for High, Diverse Footfall
Westfield Chodov, Palladium, Nový Smíchov, and Centrum Černý Most command the shopping-centre leasing Czech Republic landscape. Westfield Chodov (southeast Prague) is the largest, with 300-plus stores, a cinema, and strong weekend family traffic. Palladium (city centre, next to Náměstí Republiky metro) blends luxury (Hermès boutique) with mid-market anchors (H&M, Zara) and attracts tourists and locals equally. Nový Smíchov (southwest, adjacent to a major transport hub) skews local and weekday, ideal for activewear, electronics, and home goods. Centrum Černý Most (northeast, near the metro terminus) serves a residential catchment and performs best for value fashion, kids’ categories, and family dining. All four centres offer omnichannel readiness—click-and-collect infrastructure, digital directories, and data-sharing agreements with tenants. Shopping mall space for rent here typically includes category-exclusive clauses, co-marketing funds, and turnover-rent components. Beauty, sports, kids, and food-and-beverage categories see the most competitive bidding. If your brand relies on experiential zones, try-before-you-buy models, or weekend traffic peaks, malls outperform high streets.
Brno: Most Popular Retail Locations for 2025 Expansion
Brno is the Czech Republic’s second city, with 380,000 residents and a large student population. Retail density is lower than Prague, but performance per square metre can be higher for the right concepts. Local loyalty matters more, and international brands must localize pricing and assortments to compete with regional players.
Core High Streets and Civic Squares
Česká and Masarykova streets form Brno’s retail spine, connecting the main train station to the city centre. Daily footfall is heavily local—office workers, students, and residents running errands. Fashion (both value and premium), pharmacies, mobile-phone operators, and coffee chains dominate. Storefronts are narrower than Prague (typically 4 to 8 metres), but depth can reach 30 metres, allowing for stock rooms and back-office functions. Rents are 40 to 50 per cent lower than Na Příkopě, making Brno attractive for brands testing CEE expansion or piloting new formats. The student influence (Masaryk University enrolls 35,000) keeps the market young and digital-savvy, with strong uptake of loyalty apps and omnichannel services. If your concept targets daily-needs retail or fast fashion with localized pricing, Česká and Masarykova deliver consistent conversion year-round.
Náměstí Svobody (Freedom Square) is Brno’s civic heart, hosting markets, festivals, and public events. Footfall spikes on weekends and holidays, then drops midweek. Cafés with terraces outperform traditional retail, and pop-up formats thrive during Christmas and summer. Permanent retail units here suit experiential or flagship-lite concepts—brands willing to invest in window displays and seasonal activations. Rents reflect the square’s visibility but can be negotiated downward for tenants who commit to event sponsorships or co-programming. If your brand storytelling depends on foot traffic theatre, Náměstí Svobody offers a stage. For steady revenue, look elsewhere.
High-Performing Shopping Centres
Galerie Vaňkovka, Olympia Brno, and Campus Square are Brno’s shopping-centre anchors. Vaňkovka (city centre, next to the main bus terminal) attracts commuters and has strong weekday performance in services, electronics, and quick-service dining. Olympia (southern suburbs, car-dependent) is the largest, drawing families from across South Moravia for weekend shopping trips. Campus Square (student quarter) skews young, with strong performance in activewear, tech accessories, and affordable fashion. All three centres offer easier access and lower rents than Prague malls, making them ideal for brands scaling regionally before entering the capital. Leasing pathways in commercial real estate Czechia typically involve exclusive agents who manage multiple landlord relationships and can negotiate category protections or rent-free fit-out periods. If your rollout plan includes regional hubs before flagship cities, Brno’s malls provide proof-of-concept locations with manageable investment and fast time-to-revenue.
Matching Locations to Your Retail Concept
Not every brand belongs on every street. Matching your concept to location profiles prevents expensive mismatches and accelerates breakeven. Start by mapping your customer base against footfall profiles, then audit unit and lease parameters, and finally align co-tenancy strategy.
Audience and Footfall Profiles
Tourist-heavy streets (Na Příkopě, Pařížská Street, Celetná) reward recognizable brands, impulse purchases, and multilingual service. Conversion peaks midday and early evening. Local-dominant areas (Česká in Brno, Národní in Prague) favor convenience, loyalty programs, and weekday consistency. Shopping centres blend both, with tourist influence highest in Palladium and Westfield Chodov, and local loyalty strongest in suburban malls like Černý Most and Olympia Brno. Dwell time in malls (90 to 120 minutes) exceeds high streets (15 to 30 minutes), making malls better suited to categories that require try-on, comparison, or extended browsing. If your sales model depends on quick grab-and-go transactions, high streets win. If you need customers to linger, explore options, and upsell, malls deliver higher basket sizes.
Unit and Lease Parameters
Frontage, depth, ceiling height, delivery access, signage rights, term length, and break options vary widely. High-street units in Prague’s prime zones rarely exceed 6 metres of frontage but can run 40 metres deep, requiring careful space planning for stock rotation and staff circulation. Shopping-centre units offer more flexibility in layout but restrict signage to mall-standard fascias and limit delivery windows to early morning or late night. Lease terms on high streets typically start at five years with tenant break options at year three; malls often demand ten-year commitments with turnover-rent clauses kicking in above agreed thresholds. Competitive bids on flagship units (Pařížská Street, Na Příkopě) can close in weeks, and landlords prioritize tenants who demonstrate financial strength, operational experience, and brand fit. Navigating this requires access to exclusive listings—off-market units that never appear in public portals—and agents who can position your offer before auctions begin.
Co-Tenancy Strategy
Proximity to category leaders and complementary uses directly affects your sales performance. Luxury brands cluster on Pařížská Street because shared clientele and halo effects justify premium rents. Premium fashion benefits from adjacency to Apple, Sephora, and Nike flagship stores, which anchor Na Příkopě. Mass-market concepts thrive near transport hubs, food courts, and anchor tenants like H&M or Zara that generate sustained footfall. Food-and-beverage operators succeed near cinemas, beauty clusters, and experiential retail that extends dwell time. When shortlisting sites, map the tenant mix within 50 metres and ask whether their customer overlaps or competes with yours. If you’re opening a premium sneaker boutique next to a discount shoe chain, expect friction. If you’re placing a café next to a beauty flagship, expect synergy.
2025 Market Dynamics Shaping Site Selection
Several forces are reshaping Czech retail real estate this year. Tourism recovery in Prague has returned to 2019 levels, stabilizing demand on high streets and boosting luxury performance on Pařížská Street. Food-and-beverage concepts continue expanding in mixed-use corridors like Národní and Wenceslas Square, where office workers and residents create all-day traffic. Omnichannel integration has become table stakes—landlords in top shopping centres now expect tenants to offer click-and-collect, digital loyalty, and real-time inventory visibility. Brands that can’t deliver these capabilities face disadvantage in lease negotiations.
On the supply side, selective refurbishments are underway on key squares and secondary corridors, creating short-term vacancies but improving long-term asset quality. Remerchandising in dominant centres like Westfield Chodov and Palladium is opening category slots as legacy tenants exit or downsize. Timing your expansion to coincide with these shifts can unlock better terms and preferred positioning. Early engagement—scouting sites 12 to 18 months before target opening—gives you first look at off-market stock and aligns your fit-out schedule with landlord redevelopment milestones.
Costs, Availability, and Timing Expectations
Prime rents on Na Příkopě and Pařížská Street remain the highest in the country, with competition from international entrants keeping incentives tight. Landlords on these streets rarely offer rent-free periods or turnover concessions unless the tenant brings flagship-level brand equity. Secondary streets and select mall categories offer more negotiable terms—rent-free fit-out periods of three to six months, co-marketing contributions, and turnover-rent caps are all on the table for tenants with strong concepts and credible rollout plans.
Lead times from scouting to opening typically run nine to twelve months for high streets (site selection, lease negotiation, permits, fit-out) and twelve to eighteen months for shopping centres (longer lease cycles, more complex co-tenancy approvals, stricter fit-out coordination). Brands that engage early and leverage agents with exclusive access can compress timelines by bypassing public listing cycles and moving directly into landlord negotiations. Off-market stock also allows you to enter markets during redevelopment phases when competition is lower and landlords are motivated to lock in anchor tenants before wider marketing begins.
Securing the Right Site with Cushman & Wakefield Retail Leasing
Cushman & Wakefield’s retail leasing platform offers searchable property inventory by city and neighborhood, exclusive listings on flagship streets and major shopping centres, and direct contact with named agents who have closed deals with Primark, Foot Locker, H&M, and Sephora. The platform includes off-market opportunities that never reach public portals, giving you first look at premium units before competitors enter the bidding process. Looking to lease retail space in Prague in high-footfall areas across the city centre and wider districts? Secure retail space in Prague with local experts and exclusive mandates. Compare retail units to let Prague from high street to shopping centre locations, and request live availability updates tailored to your category, unit-size requirements, and timing windows.
Full-service advisory covers development, leasing, and property management. Agents arrange comparative site tours, provide data-backed merchandising recommendations, and advise on unit sizing, adjacency strategy, and lease structures. They also negotiate category-exclusive clauses, turnover-rent caps, and co-marketing funds on your behalf. The team has leased more than 1,960,000 square metres of retail space across Central and Eastern Europe, with proven expertise in flagship rollouts, market entries, and portfolio optimizations. Client testimonials from LPP, McDonald’s, and Foot Locker highlight responsiveness, market intelligence, and deal structuring that aligns tenant needs with landlord constraints.
Proof of Performance: Snapshots and Testimonials
Cushman & Wakefield’s CEE retail leasing team has facilitated flagship openings on Na Příkopě for international fashion brands, luxury consolidations on Pařížská Street for watch and jewelry houses, and remerchandising projects in Westfield Chodov and Galerie Vaňkovka that introduced new categories and improved tenant mix. Recent brand entries include Five Guys (Palladium), Xiaomi flagship (Wenceslas Square), and Primark (Palladium expansion). Client feedback consistently emphasizes speed to close, access to off-market stock, and proactive problem-solving during permit and fit-out phases.
Case touchpoints include a premium footwear brand that secured a 200-square-metre unit on Na Příkopě within eight weeks of engaging the team, a luxury watchmaker that negotiated exclusive adjacency protections on Pařížská Street, and a food-and-beverage operator that opened in three Brno locations within twelve months using intel from the platform’s live inventory tracker. These outcomes reflect the value of market intelligence, landlord relationships, and negotiation expertise in a market where timing and positioning determine success.
Expansion Checklist and Next Steps
Before touring sites, define your target customer profiles, preferred unit sizes, frontage requirements, store count roadmap, capex envelope, timing windows, and category adjacency wish-list. This checklist ensures you evaluate locations against strategic criteria rather than reacting to availability alone. Brands that skip this step often lease units that feel urgent but don’t fit the rollout plan, leading to underperformance and costly lease exits.
Browse prime retail locations Prague and Brno via Cushman & Wakefield’s inventory, shortlist high street and shopping mall space for rent that matches your criteria, request live availability and off-market options from Czech retail property agents, and book site tours with named agents in commercial real estate Czechia. The team responds within 24 hours, provides tailored shortlists, and arranges back-to-back tours that compress scouting timelines. If your brand is ready to enter or expand in the Czech market, the next step is a conversation with an agent who knows which units are coming available, which landlords are motivated, and which locations will deliver the footfall and conversion your format requires.
