Nama, acronym for Narodni magazin (national store), is a chain of department stores that was hugely popular and successful in the former Yugoslavia.
Originally called Kastner and Öhler, the department store was founded in 1879. It completely revolutionized shopping experience for people because it was no longer necessary to enter the store and ask the clerk for the things you need, in most cases located behind the counter, but you could simply walk around freely and see the articles on display. The store was one of the first to introduce catalogue sales and mail orders.
It changed its name into Nama and became a very successful state-owned department store after WWII. In addition to this particular store on Trešnjevački trg which was opened in 1960, 30 other stores opened in Croatia in the following years, as well as 7 in Slovenia.
Nama saw its heyday in the ‘80s, but there was a sharp decline in sales because of the war in the ‘90s and, in time, the concept of open department stores became outdated and was replaced by contemporary shopping centres.
Source: Zagreb – kakav je bio nekada
