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Mall of Africa to expand

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THERE'S A NEW MALL IN TOWN The Mall of Africa is hoping to attract 15 million annual visitors and will probably give the province’s major malls a run for their money.  Picture: Lucky Nxumalo
THERE'S A NEW MALL IN TOWN The Mall of Africa is hoping to attract 15 million annual visitors and will probably give the province’s major malls a run for their money. Picture: Lucky Nxumalo

The strong demand that the Mall of Africa had received for retail space
since its launch in late April meant it would soon start a feasibility study to look at expanding, Michael Clampett, a retail fund manager at Attacq, said
this week.

The R5 billion shopping centre in Midrand in Johannesburg opened with a retail area of 130 000m2 on April 28, but it was designed to expand by a further 30 000m2.

“There is enough demand for an expansion. We just need to get tenants signed. We have already had a lot of requests for space. There is demand, but zero supply,” Clampett said.

Attacq owns 80% of the Mall of Africa.

The next step would be for a feasibility study to be completed regarding the merits of an expansion, he said. However, at this stage, no professionals had been engaged to start the study or to sketch the expansion.

Ideas about expanding the mall come amid forecasts of zero national economic growth.

The infrastructure is in place and the expansion for the extra 30 000m2 will not cost the same amount as the first 130 000m2.

“There will need to be brickwork and services added,” Clampett said.

He said that 271 of the 272 retail spaces at the mall had been leased, and 20 of the 32 retail kiosks, which are located in the walkways, had been filled. Clampett said all the retail kiosks would be filled by November.

When it came to sales, the Mall of Africa had a “bumper May” and in June there was a “small pullback”, he said.

Clampett declined to give actual figures for the number of sales that the Mall of Africa and its stores had done in May or June, but he said the drop in trade from June compared with May was 7%.

“We have done much better than we thought,” he added.

Zenet Mathiga, a Mall of Africa spokesperson, said the foot traffic for the Mall of Africa in June was 1.09 million, which was down by 20% when compared with 1.36 million in May, and for the last three days of April, the foot count was 285 637.

On its Twitter page this month, Atterbury, which has a 20% stake in the Mall of Africa, said: “Just two months since launch, Mall of Africa ... is on track to surpass its forecast annual turnover of R2.6 billion.”

However, Clampett said that Attacq was forecasting “much more than that [R2.6 billion in annual turnover]”.

The mall and many of its major retailers had beaten expectations, he added.

“From the conversations I have had with retailers, they have beaten their budgets and targets. That is the indication I have received,” Clampett said.

“A number of Mall of Africa shops reached their launch targets, including Woolworths, H&M, Zara, Cotton On, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Game [and] Checkers,” Atterbury said this month on its Twitter page.

A Woolworths spokesperson said the company’s store at the Mall of Africa was its third-largest among its 590 outlets in the country after its stores in Sandton City and the Eastgate shopping centre in Johannesburg.

“The store has exceeded our expectations with regard to sales across all our product categories,” the Woolworths spokesperson added, but declined to disclose specific figures.

Fareed Mohammed, a Starbucks spokesperson, said that since the company opened its store at the Mall of Africa, “we have received an overwhelming response from our customers”.

Krispy Kreme SA managing director Gerry Thomas said the company’s store was trading “nicely” and sales had been better than expected.

Sarita van Wyk, a Shoprite spokesperson, said the company could not comment on Checkers ahead of the release of its financial results next month.

Clampett said that trade at the Mall of Africa was mostly high during the weekend, with 70% on the weekends and 30% during the week.

The mall was set to launch a campaign to attract more people during the week, he added.

What do you make of the Mall of Africa’s plans to expand despite a national economy that is not growing?

SMS us on 35697 using the keyword MALL. Please include your name and province. SMSes cost R1.50

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