SULGE
Viimsi Keskus shopping centre is celebrating its 2nd birthday this August. The last two years have flown by and proven to be very exciting. There are undoubtedly many people who live in the area for whom the centre’s stores, entertainment venues and service points form an essential part of their everyday lives. The MyFitness sports club is packed to the rafters with satisfied gym bunnies from dawn to dusk, while the centre’s eateries are magnets for food lovers, Ku:lsa:l overflows with ten pin bowling enthusiasts and Selver is a mecca for shoppers. We popped in to four of the stores in the centre to ask what the people of Viimsi are buying most.
Apollo bookstore director Helen Valdma says that, as you might expect, the most popular item in their store is books. Children’s literature and factual books for younger readers remain the store’s bestsellers, with the Harry Potter series still the number-one title. Helen says there are a lot of young bookworms in Viimsi, many of whom are also interested in reading in English – in the first half of the year the store added a wide range of new titles in the language.
History books and [auto]biographies take second place at Apollo, with readers also keeping themselves up to date on the latest trends in health and psychology. In these categories the most popular titles in the first six months of 2017 were Voldemar Veedam & Carl B. Wall’s Purjetamine vabadusse (‘Sailing to Freedom’), Norman Ohler’s Patsient A (‘Patient A’) and Liisa Orav’s Toida oma tervist. Haiguste ennetamine ja tervise taastamine õige toiduvaliku ja loodusraviga (‘Feed your Health: Preventing Illness and Restoring Your Health through Correct Nutrition and Natural Therapy’).
Literature is also popular, adds Helen, who says that it’s been great to see local writers gaining in popularity in recent times: the highest-selling book in the first half of the year at Apollo was Estonian author Indrek Hargla’s Apteeker Melchior ja Gotlandi kurat (‘Apothecary Melchior and the Devil of Gotland’).
Needless to say the most popular item among toys was the fidget spinner, which has been making waves all over the world, while Dobble proved to be the most popular board game. The highest-selling album was Jaak Joala & Radar’s Minu elu (‘My Life’), while the most popular DVD was the animated film Trollid (‘Trolls’).
Elina Kroon, the owner and manager of Delicato, the favourite café of many a Viimsi resident, says their latest hit is catering. For some time now the café has been providing a caterer’s service for birthdays and other parties, as well as simple get-togethers with friends, which people in the area have very much taken to. Of course, there is no going past Delicato’s amazing cakes, which are famous well beyond the confines of Viimsi itself. Elina says people prefer flour-free cakes in summer, although timeless classics like pavlova and mille-feuille remain in vogue all year round.
Delicato made a significant change to its menu in spring, with customers now enjoying daily lunch specials at the café. According to Elina, the soups and mains they offer have proven very popular, so they will be continuing to offer them for the foreseeable future.
Kätlin Jansen from the Urr & Nurr pet shop says that their bestsellers are cat and dog food, the range they offer being one of the widest available on the local market. Customers have a clear preference for tinned food that is made from ingredients fit for human consumption and that has no artificial additives.
Products made by Hunter, a German manufacturer, are also very popular – and not only in Viimsi or Estonia, but all over the world. The pet shop also sells handmade leashes, cat and dog baskets, treats, cleaning and grooming products and more. Cat and dog owners also love the Kong toys sold at the store.
Pets themselves are as welcome in the shop as their owners and often enjoy 15 minutes of fame on Urr & Nurr’s social media pages.
According to the man in charge of Viimsi’s Juustukuningad cheese shop, Taavi Porkveli, one of their latest hits is their famous mustard sauce with dill and honey. Although designed to accompany cheese, the sauce can be used for anything – and Taavi has even heard of people eating it by the spoonful straight from the jar.
Taavi says that people in the area also favour more mature cheeses made from cow’s milk with nothing added to them, particularly those that develop crunchy cheese protein crystals as part of the ageing process. Also popular among many local customers are the goat’s cheeses offered by the shop, with the Arina goat’s cheese with coriander and fenugreek being their number-one seller.
An exciting selection of new stores will soon be opening their doors at Viimsi Keskus alongside other innovations. The shopping centre would like to thank its loyal customers and looks forward to seeing them again soon!
