Zagreb’s Iconic Nama Department Store Closes After 140 Years

The news in Croatian

1. zatvoriti
   prekinuti rad ili pristup nečemu tako da više ne bude otvoreno ili dostupno ↩︎
2. privatan
   koji pripada pojedincu ili skupini ljudi, a ne državi ili javnosti ↩︎
3. tvrtka  (f.)
   organizacija koja se bavi nekom djelatnošću radi zarade, poduzeće ↩︎
4. građanin  (m.)
   osoba koja živi u nekom gradu ili ima državljanstvo neke države ↩︎
5. zaštićen
   koji je pod posebnom brigom ili zakonskom obranom da se ne uništi ili ne promijeni ↩︎
6. namjena  (f.)
   ono čemu nešto služi ili za što je nešto predviđeno ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Who bought the old Nama department store building in Zagreb?

Question 2: What must be protected or kept the same on the Nama building in the future?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
zatvoriti	to close
privatan	private
tvrtka  (f.)	company
građanin  (m.)	citizen
zaštićen	protected
namjena  (f.)	purpose

Read the full story

The famous Zagreb department store Nama in Ilica Street has closed its doors after almost 140 years of continuous trade. The building, a landmark in the Croatian capital’s main shopping street, has been sold to a private company, marking what many local media describe as the end of an era for the city.

The property has been bought by the firm Izbor šesti for a price of a little over 17 million euros, according to decisions of the Commercial Court in Zagreb. The buyer had already paid around five million euros as a deposit and must transfer the remainder within 30 days of the court ruling becoming final. Along with the building, the new owner is also required to purchase the existing equipment and inventory at book value and to take over around 140 employees.

The closure follows the decision of the City of Zagreb not to use its pre-emption right to buy the building. This allowed the sale to the private investor to go ahead. Local reports note that the company Izbor šesti is based in Solin and linked to business people active in the real estate and retail sectors, but the new owner has not yet publicly presented detailed plans for the future use of the site.

In recent weeks, Nama held a final clearance sale. Photos from Croatian media show largely empty shelves, scattered remaining goods and shoppers taking “selfies for history” inside the store. Some visitors also left candles and written messages by the shop windows, where staff displayed a farewell note thanking customers for their loyalty over the decades.

For many residents, Nama was more than just a shop. It opened in 1903 under the name Kastner & Öhler, becoming one of the most modern department stores in the region. Between 1926 and 1928 it gained its current monumental façade, designed by Viennese architect Alfred Keller in an Art Deco style that reflected the ambitions of a growing European metropolis. After the Second World War, it was renamed “Narodni magazin” – shortened to Nama – and became a symbol of socialist-era retail, a place where, as older customers recall, “you could buy almost everything for the home”.

Because of this architectural and historical importance, the building has recently been entered into the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia. The protection status requires preservation of key features such as the original façade, volume, height and certain interior elements. It also emphasises the building’s commercial character, which may limit how radically the space can be altered in future.

Croatian outlets report different expectations about what comes next. Some business circles speculate that, after an obligatory period of maintaining the current state, the new owners could introduce international fashion brands to the Ilica building, following examples from other Croatian cities. Other rumours suggest a possible long‑term conversion into a boutique hotel. However, any such change would have to respect the heritage protection rules, and so far the buyer has not confirmed any of these options.

The final trading day attracted a mixture of curiosity and nostalgia. Shoppers came to look at the almost empty floors, some making small last purchases, others simply walking through a place they had visited for decades. Local media describe emotional scenes, with both customers and long‑serving employees in tears as the doors closed at 20:00 for the last time.

For language learners and observers abroad, the closure of Nama illustrates broader themes in contemporary Croatia: the privatisation of historic city-centre properties, the growing role of real estate investment, and debates over how to balance economic development and cultural heritage. While the building will remain part of Zagreb’s architectural landscape, its future role in the daily life of the city is now in the hands of its new private owners and the limits set by cultural protection law.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school for Croatian that offers various types of online courses as well as opportunities to learn Croatian in Croatia.