Abasto shopping center Buenos Aires is a shopping mall, one of the city’s biggest, located on a magnificent, 1934 Art Deco building.
The building, with its arch-shapes and colors, is reminiscent of the famous railway station in Helsinki (by architect Eliel Saarinen).
The place functioned up until 1984 as a wholesale market for fruits and vegetables, and was remodeled to its modern shopping mall format only in 1999.
Photo: A view to the exterior of the Abasto Shopping building and the main entrance at Avenida Corrientes 3247. On the left side of the picture you can find both the shopping malls’ McDonald’s restaurant and the main entrance to the Buenos Aires metro B-line station “Carlos Gardel”.
Photo: Balvanera district, in which the shopping center is located, is best known as the tango singer Carlos Gardel’s historical home district, which is why you can find a statue for Carlos Gardel next to the shopping mall, at a short walkway named after the singer.
The place in which the shopping center is located, has been a central marketplace for Buenos Aires since 1893, initially under the name “Mercado Central de Abasto”, and the current building (which was under construction between 1931-1934) was designed by architects José Luis Delpini, Viktor Sulčič, and Raúl Bes.
Wholesale market activity from the location was moved to outside of the central Buenos Aires, to the current “Mercado Central” in 1984, and the current building was rebuilt as the current Abasto Shopping during 1996-1999.
The shopping center, which has a total floor space of over 120,000 m2, consists of 2 underground parking spaces for 1300 cars, and 4 floors of shops, with a total of 230 shops and boutiques and a variety of restaurants, cafes, as well as a Hoyts (www.hoyts.com.ar) movie theater complex.
At the core of the Abasto Shopping Center Buenos Aires is the Plaza del Zorzal square (at 3000 m2), which acts as the central event space for the shopping mall, and for example, the Argentinian TV program “Justo a Tiempo” (es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justo_a_tiempo) has been filmed at the square.
Abasto’s official website is located at www.abasto-shopping.com.ar, from where you can find the shopping center’s official event calendar, a full list of shops (including boutiques for brands such as Lacoste, Adidas, Nike, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and New Man), and a map to navigate the place.
The shops are, for the most part, open from Monday to Sunday 10am – 10pm, and the top floor hosts a food court, with such restaurants as a McDonald’s Kosher, Magic Dragon Chinese Restaurant, and Sensu sushi restaurant.
The food court is open to visitors from Sunday to Thursday (and public holidays) 10am – midnight, and Friday & Saturday 10am – 2am.
For families with children, Abasto offers as an additional service the “Museo de los niños” children’s museum as well as the “Neverland” indoor amusement park.