The Zlín Prior will close after today; there will also be a hotel after the refurbishment

Zlín - The Zlín department store Prior is open to the public for the last time today. Starting Saturday, its reconstruction will begin. In the building, which was constructed according to the design of architect František Lydie Gahura in the spirit of Zlín's functionalist architecture in 1932, there will also be a hotel, a restaurant, and office space after the renovation. If everything goes well, at the latest by the beginning of the second half of next year, the reconstructed building with a new function should open, said Radovan Pilich, the managing director of Prior Zlín, to ČTK today.

Most tenants left the building in the city center at the end of April; only the ground floor with a supermarket and a few stores remains operational.

"During the next week, the entire building will be cleared, and reconstruction will begin. At first, there will be demolition work; only the load-bearing skeleton will remain. Everything else that fills the building must be dismantled," said Pilich.

The extensions behind the department store, created after 1945, will also be demolished; the ground floor will then expand into the slope, where a supermarket will be located. The building will receive a new façade, and it is expected to look like it did during the Baťa era. "However, everything will be new," Pilich stated. The building's past will be commemorated, for example, by a mosaic that has already been professionally removed from the interior, and a suitable place for it is being sought within the building.

After the reconstruction, the majority of the department store will be occupied by the Zlín company HP Tronic, a leading domestic distributor and retailer of household appliances and electronics. It also operates a chain of Euronics stores, online shops Kasa.cz and Hej.sk, and includes the company ETA and Resort Valachy in Velké Karlovice in the Vsetín area. The group has over 1,400 employees. It will move its administrative headquarters to the department store and establish a wellness hotel there. "Participating in the revitalization of this unique city landmark near the Baťa factory complex, the seat of the Zlín Region, and the congress center is a great challenge and honor for us," stated Daniel Večeřa, the CEO of HP Tronic.

The first two floors will house stores, services, and catering establishments. The third to fifth floors will serve as HP Tronic's administrative center for about 400 employees. A hotel with a wellness center and restaurant will be created in the top four floors, including a planned extension on the roof.