Could dying mid-market shopping malls be a global phenomenon? In the US, it seems such malls are dying simply because the middle class have been squeezed and don’t have enough money to spend.
Thee wealthier class may gravitate to up-market malls while those without money may just want to gawk and ‘hang out’ there.
And now, with GST looming and online shopping emerging here …
Thanks to blog reader Dean for the link.
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Its not about mid-market, its about size and location. Medium size malls work best in prime office AND residential area. It needs traffic both at weekend and weekdays, If the mall is in residential area, its mostly a weekend traffic and since the suburban crowd only have that limited time to spend on a weekend, the tendency for the large malls to dominate and coupled with competition from online shopping, its more prone to failure. Mid-size mall, like any SME these days, you need a differentiation to be competitive. Doing a me-to strategy can be deadly – for decades. There… Read more »
In the Bayan Baru case, the malls are close to residential (including low-cost flats) and commercial/industrial centres. The only one that has stood the test of time seems to be Sunrise. Think Sunrise caters to low-income to middle-class segment, which would reflect the demographics of the vicinity.
Besides Sunrise, BJ Komplex appears to have a new lease of life after a better strategy to focus on budget conscious consumers like the migrant workers. After Mydin Hypermarket opened there and with new management strategy, the businesses there are doing fine these days (no need to depend like before the DVD transactions !) I beg to differ. Bayan Baru is undergoing renewed demographic profiles. As more high end condos appear in the horizon around the vicinity of Sg Ara, Relau, Bukit Jambul (eg The Address by IJM), Bukit Gedung & of course expensive dwellers of Mah Sing’s Projects near… Read more »
Yah but after buying those expensive condos, many of the owners will be hutang to the bank!
Speaking at the 2014 National Day Rally on Sunday, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong explains how the CPF scheme and Home Ownership are the twin pillars of retirement adequacy in Singapore. The Minimum Sum help keeps a steady stream of income flowing for Singaporeans during their retirement years.
Retiring with a Peace Of Mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQzIOd8Gqhc
Singaporeans are mostly asset-rich but cash poor as their money are locked into their property. PM Lee is telling them how to monetise their property via HB lease-back scheme (now extended to 4-room flat) to provide annuity for retirement.
Singapore government requires its citizen to have a minimum sum of S$155K in their CPF that could not be withdrawn (except for public housing) until age 65 to safeguard their retirement needs. Wonder how much an average Malaysian will have in his EPF at the retirement age of 55?
This is the result of bad planning and now the developer has to pay for his bad foresight !
BN government has turned loss-making shopping malls to UTC (Pusat Transformasi Bandar), example:
1) City Plaza in Alor Setar (spent RM50 million to renovate!)
2) Galleria@Kota Raya in Johor Bahru
Perhaps D’Piazza can be turned into UTC at Bayan Baru?
Former Bayan Baru MP (now promoted to ambassador to Indonesia after crossing from PKR to BN friendly candidate) used to set up office at D Piazza mall. Unlikely he can turn D Piazza around having long being abandoned by residents of Bayan Baru.
D Piazza Mall has new tenant recently – Velloo Villas from downtown Penang. May be Anil’s fans at Bayan Baru can gather there evry Sunday to review and preview new events unfolding ?
Mr Anil what say u ?
Haha i just had lunch there the other day. That’s when I saw the deserted interior.
Yet to try out Velloo Villas at D Piazza of Bayan Baru.
Anil
Are the food pricing affordable compared to the one at downtown Penang ?
banana (nor ananar) leaf meals are always a joy to my stomach 🙂
It came up to about RM10-11 per head including drinks. But of course depends on what you order.
Anil
Is RM10 a meal is a norm for an average Malaysian?
If so, it would cost RM600 for lunch and dinner. What is left from the min wage is only RM300 or RM10 a day!
So better to cook at home, right?
Yes the cost of food is swallowing a huge chunk of most people’s household budgets.
But still need something sustainable than the UTC centers. What will happen to the staff since some of the govt functions are outsourced or privatised?
BN Government spent and built new administrative building away from many town centres to shift the govermental agencies. Then they later built UTCs at abandoned buildings in town centres to bring back the service centres of goverment agencies. What a waste of public resources.
You are right. Those governmental offices in alor Setar was moved to Anak Bukit years ago, leaving many abandoned offices in the Wisma Persekutuan of Alor Setar. City Plaza is owned by MBAS (Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar) and has a big space vacated by City Point Shopping Centre. The utilised space was abandoned for almost 2 years until it is converted to be UTC at a cost of RM50 million. Same thing with Galleria@Kota Raya in JB. It was formerly called Kota Raya Shopping Centre. JohorCorp spent millions upgrading it but cannot get new tennants (possibly because City Square (owned… Read more »
No need to worry for them since the headcount of government servants is never reduced even after outsourcing or privatisation. BN needs their votes, so provide iron rice bowl in return.
Tough for private entreprise to earn good profits at Malls with high operating cost.
The crowd may be at the malls to enjoy the crowd, the air-con, the organised or promo events and many do not shop to sustain the earnings.
Tomorrow we go to New World Park for TBH book launch and may be the crowd able to help the food business there as well.
Very competitive environment to draw crowds among the malls.
Continous renewals via renovation with exciting and relevant tenant mix can sustain the business. Else being relegated to be a ‘low cost bazaar’ catering to the migrant workers like BJ Complex that has lost its lustre with the emergence of Queensbay Mall.
The malls need constant upgrading to keep up with the consumer trend to stay relevant.
However, each upgrading will cost money, resulting in higher rental.
Ultimately the consumers will have to foot the bill?
OK for me as I only enjoy the air-cond during my window shopping for leisure!
Malls there are dyimg because people are now doing online purchase via Amazon and Ali Baba/Taobao. The same trend is happening in China. But people in Malaysia prefer to spend time in malls.