Heikintori

Shopping centre in Finland

Heikintori is a shopping centre in Tapiola, Espoo, Finland.

Heikintori is the second oldest shopping centre in the entire country of Finland. It includes many shops including, clothes and electronics stores, many restaurants, and a barber's shop.

There are about 187,000 inhabitants in Heikintori's sphere of influence. The number of households is about 81,000. The annual consumption power of the area is almost 3.1 billion euro (2006).

Figures

Built in 1968
Area for rent: 9,500 m²
Car parking spaces: 258, of which 258 covered
Number of businesses: 46, including KappAhl, Aleksi 13, Andiamo, K-Kenkä and Kelloliike Sylvester
Percentage of Citycon's ownership: 61.5%

Future

Heikintori has long been in need of renovation. A part of Heikintori belongs to the environment designed by Aarne Ervi, which falls under protection.^[2] The renovation was supposed to start in late 2019 and be completed by 2021. The plans included building four floors of apartments on top of Heikintori and dismantling Heikintori's current parking house and replacing it with a 7-floor residential house. The commercial spaces were supposed to be renovated honouring the spirit of Aarne Ervi without expansion. The third floor of Heikintori will probably house a kindergarten, and part of Heikintori's roof will act as the kindergarten's yard.^[3]

In 2020, Heikintori only had a few stores left, including two restaurants, a bar, a barber's shop and a flea market. The only surviving original store is restaurant Ribis.^[4]

References

^ Jokinen, Pauliina: Onko tässä Suomen surullisin aukio? Ennen niin loistokkaan espoolaistorin 50-vuotisjuhlat jätettiin järjestämättä, koska ketään ei enää kiinnosta, Rakennuslehti 5 October 2018. Accessed on 10 April 2020.
^ Tuominen-Halomo, Anneli: Suomen toiseksi vanhin kauppakeskus rapistuu Espoossa – remontista ei tietoa vieläkään, Länsiväylä 13 March 2016. Accessed on 25 August 2016.
^ Legendaarinen kauppakeskus Espoossa vihdoin täysremonttiin – katolle tulossa asuntoja, Länsiväylä 28 October 2017. Accessed on 30 October 2017.
^ Moilanen, Kaisu: "Ei täällä oikein ole mitään, mitä tarvitsisin" – Tapiolassa rapistuu tyhjentynyt kauppakeskus, josta tuli omistajalleen ongelma, Helsingin Sanomat 8 October 2020. Accessed on 8 October 2020.