abasto | Wander Argentina

Abasto Shopping — An Old-Time Market Turned Mall

Abasto, the huge art deco style complex in the neighborhood of the same name, is Buenos Aires largest shopping mall.

The mall’s distinguished façade along Corrientes Avenue features five huge leaded glass archways that are emblematic of the neighborhood, especially when lit in the evening. Inside, a huge atrium floods the building with natural light. The centralized mall features over 250 stores, a children’s museum, a small theme park, a food court, and a cinema with 12 screens.

The unique building was originally the site of Buenos Aires’ central vegetable market, inaugurated in 1893. It slowly grew outward as the population boomed, until the original structure was demolished in the 1930’s to make room for a larger building. The current art deco structure dates to 1934 and took three years to construct.

The building was designed by José Luis Delpini, Raul Bes and Slovenian-born architect, Viktor Sulčič — the same team that constructed Buenos Aires’ most famous stadium, La Bombonera in the La Boca neighborhood.

This was Buenos Aires’ golden age — the new market included all the latest amenities of the era including escalators, phone lines throughout the building and a connection with the underground subway.

A 1952 fire in the building burned for various days but thanks to the sturdy old-world construction, Abasto survived the blaze and Delpini was able to reform the damaged parts. A 1955 movie called Mercado de Abasto set in the mall highlights what a central place the market played in everyday life.

By 1984 Buenos Aires’ population had grown so much that housing the vegetable market in the center of the city became impractical due to the congestion the trucks caused bringing in produce in from the province. Abasto was shut down and the vegetable market was transferred to the Mercado Central in the Buenos Aires province, where it remains today.

Abasto’s Rebirth

To the dismay of residents, the one-time jewel of the neighborhood remained closed until the end of the 1990’s. During that time the neighborhood around Abasto became notorious for squats, prostitution, and drug use and was generally avoided by people who didn’t live there.

During Abasto’s nearly 15 years of hibernation, various proposals were thrown around to determine the building’s destiny while the neighborhood languished. One proposal included converting the market into an arts center similar to Paris’ Georges Pompidou Art Center. Finally in 1997, Hungarian-American billionaire, George Soros (who was also behind the restoration of Galerías Pacífico) purchased the building, and invested $2 million in its restoration.

The resurrection of Abasto as a shopping mall in 1998 instantly ushered in a new era to the blighted barrio, a more modest renaissance to that which took place in the waterfront restoration of Puerto Madero around the same time.

This mall has some decent shopping with international name brands such as Lacoste, Samsonite and Adidas and smaller national outlets. The movie theater is one of the city’s most comfortable and offers a range of films from Hollywood blockbusters to sentimental national productions.

The prices at many of the smaller stores tend to be more reasonable than those at other malls such as Galerías Pacífico, but a costlier than at the maze of street-side stores in the surrounding neighborhood, which carry similar merchandise.

Kosher Kids

Abasto is a mall designed with kids in mind. In addition to the celebrated Children’s Museum, there’s an arcade and a small indoor theme park with a Ferris wheel that spans all three floors.

The food court offers the usual parilla, pasta, pan-Asian offerings and claims fame to the only Kosher McDonald’s outside Israel, a hangout for the Orthodox fast food lovers among the neighborhood’s surrounding Jewish community.

One of the nice things about Abasto Mall is that thanks to its vastness and open construction, it never seems to get really crowded. Even at Christmas time when parents bring their kids here to see Santa Claus, things are quite relaxed.

Abasto Shopping Mall
Corrientes 3247
Abasto
Tel: 4959 3400
Free transport from hotels: 5777-6027

• Hours: 10:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. everyday

Getting there:

–Buses: 29, 99, 71, 26, 146, 124, 168
–Subway: Station Carlos Gardel, Line B

• Underground parking
• If you spend over a certain amount in any store marked ‘duty free,’ ask for your receipt so you can get a refund on the taxes on your way out of the country.
• If you are staying in a hotel, call the mall for a free ride from your hotel to the mall. To be driven back to your hotel until 7:00 p.m., ask at the mall’s service stands.
• On Wednesday, movies are half price.

The Children’s Museum

The Children’s Museum of Abasto is a not-to-missed Buenos Aires attraction for the under-12 crowd.

Here parents might observe the first spark of their child’s future career through experiential exhibits that allow them to play at being grown-ups. Interactive displays allow kids to act as a broadcast journalist, dentist, TV cameraperson, construction worker and supermarket clerk among others.

There is also a pint-sized city with a Casa Rosada, Congress building and National Bank. The brightly colored exhibits are all in Spanish but language isn’t a barrier here.

The museum has various official city endorsements including from the Education Minister, and the culture departments of Argentina and the City of Buenos Aires. The Children’s Museum is a non-profit designed with the Declaration of the Rights of a Child in mind. Unfortunately that doesn’t preclude corporate-sponsored exhibits such as a McDonalds and YPF station to ensure early brand recognition, and that is the museum’s biggest drawback.

In the auditorium there are puppet shows, movie projections, storytelling and other events, listed daily by the entrance to the museum. There are two rooms are dedicated to toddlers and babies for those who have a multi-age brood in tow.

For expat parents, this is the perfect place to host a birthday party that is sure to be a hit. Parents will be happy to find that there are spots for them to rest, or better yet send them with the grandparents, who get in free.

If a few hours at the museum doesn’t wear them out there is also the unfortunately named Neverland Theme Park right next door.

Museo de los niños
Av. Corrientes 3247, 2nd floor
Abasto Shopping
Tel: 4861-2325

• Hours: Tue- Sun& holidays 1:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.
• Cost: AR$ 30 children
—AR$15 adults
• ½ off from 7:00 p.m.
• Seniors, students and kids under 2 free

Once and Abasto

Once/Abasto is a bustling neighborhood just a short subway-ride west of Microcentro. The predominantly working class area is a refreshing — if somewhat chaotic — change from the cosmopolitan air of other sections of the city.

Local shops line the sidewalks with everything from clothes, linens and books to home appliances and even custom-made manikins, just in case you’re in the market for one.

The neighborhood’s crown jewel, at least in terms of architecture and commerce, is the Mercado de Abasto, or Abasto Shopping one of the nicest shopping centers in Buenos Aires.

If you’re looking for a deal, just on the outskirts of the mercado are small gallerias offering electronics, pirated DVD’s, and cheeky lingerie at a considerable markdown.

Since the 1998 reopening of Abasto Shopping Mall the once blighted area has blossomed into a lively zone with bars, tango halls and restaurants. Stray too many blocks from the mall and the neighborhood’s rough edges begin to show through.

The area around Plaza Miserere, commonly referred to as Plaza Once, retains a seedy reputation, especially at night. Buenos Aires’ central plaza sits in one of the city’s highest density areas and is next to one of the city’s main transportation hubs, with the Once de Septiembre train station next door.

Many official and unofficial bus lines come through here and the A, E, and H lines of the subway are located beneath Plaza Once. The plaza itself has a monument to the nation’s first president, Bernadino Rivadavia but it is one of the city’s more depressing plazas, with a queasy mix of the down and out, peddlers, flocks of pigeons and people who just want to get home.

North of the train station sits a large memorial on the former site of the República Cromañón nightclub. The 2004 fire there was one of the largest non-natural catastrophes in Argentina, killing 194, and injuring hundreds of others, including many children.

The area south of Once train station, between the streets of Rivadavia and Corrientes is a lively shopping area with electronics, clothes and toys which spill on to the sidewalks. At night this area is desolate and has a seedy street scene. Since the 1990’s area is also home to a few Cumbia Villera clubs, the Argentine-style cumbia that grew out of the city slums.

The area also has a more grown-up salsa scene, with many small clubs and Azucar, Buenos Aires largest merengue and salsa club across from Abasto shopping mall.

If you want culture, Once is alive with ethnic diversity, including the largest Jewish population in the city. The neighborhood has the highest congregation of important temples in the country, including El Gran Templo de Paso, Congregación Israelita (commonly called ‘Libertad’) and the Sephardic temple, Yesod Hadath. In Abasto shopping mall is the only Kosher McDonalds outside Israel.

Peruvian restaurants along Corrientes Avenue and around the train station serve up fantastic rotisserie chicken and a couple of low-key Korean restaurants offer Kim Chi. The area also has Arabic roots and along Rivadavia one can find Argentine-style Shawarma. The city has cracked down on mostly foreign street vendors selling cheap knock-offs, umbrellas and food items, but they are still abundant in this area, just more mobile.

If you enjoy theater and understand Spanish, Abasto is the area that offers what would be the equivalent to off-off Broadway shows – there are some excellent small productions. Check local papers or walk around the area and pick up some of the shows’ flyers. For a taste of the young local music, visit the cool Konex Cultural Center, an arts center housed in an old oil refinery, that offers a variety of live music and theater productions.

Konex’s most popular night is Monday when La Bomba del Tiempo performs. La Bomba is a 15-piece percussion group that gets the crowd shaking to rhythmic jazz and reggeaton beats. If you’ve just come from Brazil the music may not blow your mind, but there is an amusing free-spirited social scene — be sure to arrive early because the lines wrap around the block.

-Daniel McGrath with Ande Wanderer