Shopping at Oviedo, El Poblado’s Oldest Mall

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Centro Comerical Oviedo in Medellín
Centro Comerical Oviedo in Medellín
Centro Comerical Oviedo in Medellín
Centro Comerical Oviedo

Centro Comercial Oviedo is the oldest mall located in the upscale community of El Poblado in Medellín.

Oviedo is located on Avenida El Poblado, on the Milla de Oro (the Golden Mile), which is the business district that generates much of the city’s wealth.

The mall opened in November 1979, which was seven years after Centro Comercial San Diego, the first mall in Medellín. When it opened, Oviedo originally had 70 stores.

In December 1994, the second phase of the mall was built, which included a movie theater with three screens.

In November 1998, the mall opened its third phase. In September 2003, Oviedo opened its fourth phase, which included a new movie theater with seven screens. The mall is now sized at over 1 million square feet and has over 280 shops.

Oviedo was the first mall I visited in Medellín in December 2009 during my first trip to the city as I stayed in an apartment in El Poblado located only a couple of blocks away.

This was before the massive Santafé mall opened in May 2010, located about three blocks from Oviedo on Avenida El Poblado.

Santafé is about double the size of Oviedo, so when Santafé opened in 2010 it took some business away from Oviedo.

Oviedo has struggled to compete with the much larger Santafé and I noticed it had a few vacancies when I visited the Oviedo mall recently.

The large tree in the middle of Oviedo ma
The large tree in the middle of Oviedo mall

The Shops in Oviedo

The anchor tenants in Oviedo are Carulla and Cine Colombia.

The mall has over 280 shops, which include stores selling clothes, shoes, home furnishings, mattresses, eye-care, jewelry and several other categories.

The mall also has several money exchange places.

Carulla is Colombia's version of Whole Foods Market
Carulla is Colombia’s version of Whole Foods Market

Carulla is a Colombian chain of upscale grocery stores that was acquired by Almacenes Exito in 2006, but continues to operate under its original brand name.

They have grocery stores located in Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cartagena and Medellín.

Cine Colombia movie theaters
Cine Colombia movie theaters

Cine Colombia located in Oviedo is a movie theater with seven screens located in the newest section of the mall, which opened in 2003. Cine Colombia shows movies in Spanish as well as some in English with Spanish subtitles.

Cine Colombia is Colombia’s largest movie theater chain in Colombia with theaters in 11 cities. In Medellín, it has five locations, in Los Molions, Oviedo, Santa Fé, Unicentro and Vizcaya.

Rambler, one of the mattress stores in Oviedo mall
Rambler, one of the mattress stores

Several malls in Medellín have stores selling mattresses and Oviedo has at least four shops selling them. These mattress stores in the malls frequently have sales.

However, mattresses in stores in the large shopping malls in Medellín are typically overpriced. You can find small mattress stores near the Home Center store near the Suramericana metro stop that can sell mattresses about 40 to 50 percent cheaper. Make sure to negotiate.

Leonisa, one of several lingerie stores in Oviedo mall
Leonisa, one of several lingerie stores

Similar to all the other large malls in Medellín, Oviedo also has several stores selling lingerie.

The reason why? Colombia is reportedly the third largest producer of lingerie globally.

The ground floor food court in Oviedo mall
The ground floor food court

Food Options in Oviedo

Oviedo mall has a food court located on the ground floor that surrounds a large tree. It also has several restaurants that are primarily located in the newer section of the mall that opened in 2003.

The mall has a pretty big selection with over 40 fast food places and restaurants.

You’ll also find several of the typical fast food places in Medellín including Asia Wok, Dogger, Frisby, Mimo’s, Presto, Sarku Japan, SR Wok, and Subway.

The mall also has several restaurants including Archie’s, Café Le Gris, Crepes & Waffles, El Corral Gourmet and Nino e Pastino.

Conclusions

Pro’s – It’s a nice mall with a Carulla for groceries, a seven-screen Cine Colombia movie theater, a convenient food court and over 280 shops. It is also located in El Poblado, which is convenient to where many foreigners are located.

Con’s – Oviedo has difficult competition with the much larger and newer Santafé mall located about three blocks away.

My Verdict – I personally prefer the nearby Santafé mall as it is newer with a much bigger selection of shops. Since Oviedo is located in ritzy El Poblado, the prices in many of the shops can also be higher than found in malls in other neighborhoods. If you are looking for the best prices, Oviedo or Santafé are not the places to be.

How to Get There – It is located on the main part of Avenida El Poblado aka Milla de Oro (Golden Mile). Every taxi driver knows where it is. The nearest Metro station is Aguacatala, but this is a pretty good hike from the mall.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. The oldest mall in El Poblado is Sandiego, which is also the oldest mall in Medellín. Sandiego is in the borderline of the Poblado comuna 14 and comunas 9 and 10, but it’s still in El Poblado.