The Story of Astri Group

“The largest retail chain based on Estonian capital” – this is exactly what was written in the notes recently found among old papers by the founders of AS Astri. This idea was put on paper during one of the first team trainings, where the long-term goals of the company, established in 1991, were set.

Astri did not become the largest retailer based on Estonian capital, but it achieved something even greater – With its six shopping centers and markets, Astri is the largest commercial real estate group in Estonia, still operating solely on Estonian capital. This demonstrates the company’s continued strong position and contribution to the local economy. Astri Group creates jobs, supports regional entrepreneurship, and fosters development.

But indeed, it all began in retail. Everything started with retail. In 1992, Väino Põllumäe and Aleg Kirs purchased the Veeriku store at a Tartu city auction, and after thorough renovations, opened the area's first premium-class grocery store in its premises. The new store featured a marble floor, a bright and shining sales hall, and counters overflowing with the best products, behind which smiled friendly salespeople. Customers from that time recall that visiting the store felt like going to an exhibition, as such abundance had never been seen elsewhere by Tartu residents accustomed to the empty shelves of the Soviet era.

From the very beginning, Astri has placed great importance on an excellent customer experience, and therefore the shopkeepers worked hard to ensure that customers could enjoy a true shopping experience at Veeriku. The store had its own grill oven, and the chicken from there was supposed to be at least as good as that from Viru Grill. In reality, the chicken was even better—so delicious that it was sold in such large quantities that it likely set a unique sales record. The house-made meringues, salads, whipped cream curd cakes, fresh pastries, and the rich flower department were also reasons for people to come from the other side of the city and even farther.

And they came even at midnight, because Veeriku was open to customers 24 hours a day. Looking back, the founders of Veeriku consider the decision to keep the store open around the clock a bold move. But it paid off completely—to everyone’s surprise, the store was full of people even at night! A year later, a grill bar called Veeriku Grill was opened on the second floor of the store, and it was warmly received by the people of Tartu as well.

Veeriku was popular not only among customers but was also valued as an employer. The owners recall that once, as many as 300 people applied for a single sales position.

Before the opening of the Veeriku store, Kirs and Põllumäe had no experience in running a grocery store, but the success of Veeriku confirmed: if you do something with heart and soul, success will follow. The men realized that the formula they had found should be applied elsewhere as well, and decided to purchase the Kivilinna store in Annelinn, which they planned to develop into Tartu's first shopping center-style supermarket. Thus, a pharmacy, flower shop, and other services were brought in alongside the grocery store. To complete the transaction, the ownership circle of Astri was expanded to include brothers Paul-Toomas and Ülo Hage.

Although Kirs and Põllumäe had known the Hage brothers from before, it quickly became clear while developing the Kivilinna center that the men's business visions and cooperation matched well. Together, they decided to look beyond Tartu.

"In 1996, we faced a dilemma: should we go to Tallinn or choose Narva instead?" Väino Põllumäe recalled in an interview with Äripäev. "We decided to go to Narva, and it was the right decision."

That same year, Astri Group established a foothold in the border town by purchasing a store in Narva and has remained successful there to this day. Over 25 years, three centers owned by Astri have provided shopping experiences and entertainment to the people of Narva: Astri Keskus, Tempo Keskus, and Fama Keskus, of which Tempo Keskus, the second to open, has since been sold.
 

In 1997, when the innovative Astri shopping center opened its doors in the former Narva premises, it immediately became as popular among Narva residents as the Veeriku store had been in Tartu. Even in the border town, customers were surprised by a shopping experience that no other store in Narva could offer. In addition to a well-stocked grocery store, the center also housed Sportland and Seppälä.

By the year 2000, Astri owned six retail stores selling food and essential goods: Veeriku, Ülenurme, Saare, Kivilinna, and Narva stores, as well as the Hansakeskus culinary and bakery shop. However, the owners saw the company's future in the development and management of commercial real estate and decided to devote themselves fully to this. Astri sold its grocery stores to the then Estonian Consumers' Cooperative and began planning the largest shopping center in South Estonia.

It was a bold decision—to build a shopping center on farmland at the edge of Tartu, where there were no nearby residential buildings and public transport rarely reached. However, the owners of Astri Group had visited similar centers abroad and believed that people from Southern Estonia would also find their way to a suburban shopping mecca like this.

Twenty years ago, on August 30, 2001, Lõunakeskus opened its doors to visitors. The shopping center, which initially operated on 15,000 square meters, has expanded 13 times and has become a 97,000-square-meter retail and entertainment park.

The 24/7 opening of the Veeriku store and building a shopping center on farmland were not the only ideas whose success outsiders doubted. In 2006, when the pirate videocassette business was booming and Hollywood hits were watched from home sofas, the decision to open a modern cinema in the new section of Narva Astri Center raised a few eyebrows. Especially since, at that time, no Estonian shopping center had a cinema. Once again, the Astri owners’ intuition did not fail them—the multiplex with three screens drew people out of their homes to enjoy movies with quality picture and sound. Astri successfully combined cinema and shopping center in Pärnu as well, opening a cinema in the extension of Pärnu Keskus in 2012.

Another so-called crazy idea was to build an ice rink—Astri Arena—at Lõunakeskus. What initially seemed like a utopian idea was realized despite all obstacles and has become a strong competitive advantage that is hard to replicate and without which no one could imagine Lõunakeskus today. In addition to offering skating fun, the ice rink is a great arena that has hosted many different sports competitions, exhibitions, fairs, concerts, and other lively events. In 2016, the full-size ice rink, meeting all competition standards, was complemented by a smaller training hall, and today, in 2025, Astri Arena celebrates its 30th anniversary.

The Lõunakeskus, or rather its rapid expansion, is also tied to one of the few decisions the Astri management would prefer to change if they could turn back time. Since the executive team thoroughly considers all plans and makes decisions collectively, there has not been a single decision in the company’s history that they have regretted later. However, they do admit that they could have been a bit bolder when purchasing the Lõunakeskus plot, as they later had to buy additional land several times to realize their expansion plans. They look back at the decision not to buy Krediidipank with a similar feeling. Who knows, perhaps in that case, we would be talking about a very different Astri Group today.

The owners believe that consensus-based decisions are what have brought success to Astri Group and kept the ownership circle united. If any of them have clear objections to why a particular project should not proceed, or if they are not one hundred percent convinced that the project is worth the investment of time and money, then it is not pursued.

However, thorough planning and the owners’ faith are not enough for the success of any project. It also takes a valuable key person to lead the new initiative and keep it alive. Finding the right people is extremely important, and the Astri owners are pleased that they have managed to do just that. To mention just a couple of names: without Jaan Lot, Tartu Lõunakeskus would not be what it is today, and without the late Andres Rjabov, Tallinn’s Balti Jaama Market would not be what it is now.
 

The Astri team is also unanimous in their belief that the measure of a project’s success is not quick, direct profit. They are building the future together—steps taken today will initially bring indirect benefits and will only be fully realized years later. Many of Astri’s projects were ahead of their time and quite risky at launch, but have proven themselves in every way over time.

There is another important trait that unites Astri’s ownership circle—their DNA includes an understanding that exploring the world with open eyes and bringing ideas back to Estonia is extremely important for the company’s development. Even if some ideas seen abroad seem too fresh at first, they often become the new normal a few years later. Sometimes, they organize special inspiration trips with a larger group; other times, they explore the world individually. The Astri Group team includes both Japanophiles and people well-versed in Slavic culture—there is something to learn and bring back from everywhere.

In 2014, after a long period of consideration, Astri Grupp expanded to Tallinn / entered the Tallinn market and purchased the legendary Jaama Market building. Together with architects, they embarked on several inspiration trips.

The owners say that they visited half of the markets in Europe to find a concept that would be more than just a place to shop or spend time—a concept that would also fulfill the function of a true community center, characteristic of a proper market. After a long search, the development of the Balti Jaama Market was based on London’s markets—combining the labyrinthine charm of Camden Market with the spaciousness of Borough Market.

To ensure that the new market would truly become a functioning community center, KOKO architects also involved local residents, whose opinions were represented by the Telliskivi Society.

The reconstruction, which began in January 2016, was quite a challenge for both the designers and the builders. They had to take into account the unique features of the historic limestone warehouse buildings under heritage protection, the high groundwater level, and many unexpected issues. For example, four explosive devices were found, including two airplane bombs from World War I. Due to one of the explosives, the street had to be closed and people evacuated from the area. The complexity was further increased by the requirement that trading at the market could not be interrupted for even a day. To achieve this, the market was temporarily relocated to the adjacent Depoo area, which has since organically developed into a food and entertainment district connected to the Balti Jaama Market.

When the Balti Jaama Market opened in 2017, it was filled with a lively market atmosphere from day one. It attracted both the regular customers of Jaama Market and people who had never visited the old, outdated market. Balti Jaama Market is located on the route of many people and has become their daily stop and shopping place. People come not only to buy fresh produce, but also to meet friends and spend time outdoors at the cafés’ terraces and on the two market squares—Morning Square and Evening Square. The market area has become a community center, just as the owners and architects dreamed.

"If you love what you do and the comfortable living environments you create are appreciated by people, it brings the greatest joy to your heart,” say the owners of Astri.

Baltic Station Market was also warmly received by architectural circles – it has been nominated for the prestigious European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award and has won several awards in Estonia.

Just as urban space evolves, companies and their teams also renew and develop. At Astri Group, the younger generation has grown up and gradually taken on more responsibility over time. The circle of owners now includes the sons and daughters of the founders, and many new young people with fresh and ambitious ideas have joined the teams of smaller units.

According to the more experienced members, young people see things from their own perspective and experience many topics differently than they do. Take, for example, the digital world—its user experience and knowledge are completely different for the younger and older generations.

After the initial analyses, however, it became clear that the time was not yet ripe for such an e-commerce platform, and the project was put on hold for a while. In 2015, the idea was revisited and a working group was formed, which this time aimed to bring together the products and services of businesses not only from Lõunakeskus but also from all the other centers onto a single platform. In the spring of 2016, www.astri.ee was launched.

The leaders of Astri Group are pleased that the group is doing well and that so many wonderful and like-minded people have been involved in its activities from the very beginning. Each of them has played an important and irreplaceable role in Astri’s success story.