A new pop-up store and restaurants near the station in Luxembourg

A new pop-up store will be opening in the Gare district, filling a retail space that has been vacant since the Great restaurant closed nearly two years ago.

Luxembourg City Council has launched an invitation to tender – open until 7 December – for the lease of the ground-floor space at the corner of Avenue de la Liberté and Rue de Strasbourg in an area that is now partly pedestrianised. The municipal authorities hope to see a professional set up shop there in December.

To combat the problem of unoccupied and unattractive commercial premises, the City of Luxembourg has been encouraging the growth of pop-up stores for several years. These temporary shops allow commercial premises to be rented on a short-term basis.

The city collaborates with building owners and selects tenants based on their availability and the “originality and quality of the concept” they propose. The initiative is promoted as a springboard for shopkeepers, designers and entrepreneurs seeking “their first experience in a physical shop”.

Pop-up stores are rented for periods of one to six months, with the possibility of a three-month extension. Monthly rents for these stores in the capital range from €650 to €2,250.

With the new space at 1 rue de Strasbourg, Luxembourg City will now have eight pop-up stores in operation, concentrated in the Gare district and Ville-Haute.

Nearby, K-Shop, a pop-up store specialising in South Korean products, will vacate the space at 64 Avenue de la Liberté. A similar invitation to tender has been launched for its reopening in mid-January 2026.

Casa Baffone has maintained a temporary presence at 58 Avenue de la Gare since 4 August.

A new food court replaces Vapiano

The area around Central Station has also seen several new restaurant openings in recent months, mostly fast-food outlets.

Last summer saw the arrival of Subway, located at 80 Avenue de la Liberté, and Le 1 restaurant at 1 Place de la Gare.

Nearby, the former Vapiano has been replaced with the opening of the 1,000-square-metre Food Station, a food court that houses multiple catering outlets, including BBT Chaud (kebabs and sandwiches), Boonchu (Thai specialties) and Giancarlo (pizzeria), along with a bar and smoking lounge.

On Avenue de la Gare, the international chain IT – Italian Trattoria – opened at number 57 at the end of summer. Further down the street, the German chain Haus des Döners will debut at number 22 on Thursday.

KFC is also expected to open its third Luxembourg branch at number 43 in early 2026, and Pepe Chicken opened its first outlet at 7 rue Glesener on 4 November.

(This article was first published by Virgule. AI translated, with editing and adaptation by Lucrezia Reale.)