The Festival Mall in Ekurhuleni, with almost 80 000 sq m of letting space and more than 150 tenants, has created a strong comparative fashion shopping node and introduced a number of new fashion retailers as part of the strategic leasing programme introduced by the owners, Acucap Investments.
According to centre manager, Sheridan Naude, it was necessary to take a careful look at the market demographics affecting the mall and then using these to attract the shoppers by having stalls that were appropriate.
“We have consistently experienced high occupancy levels so while consumers have increasingly been asking for specific new retailers it has been difficult to accommodate them,” he says.
He says that over the past few years it has been possible to create a broader and more interesting centre by using the fashion-shopping factor to get specific retailers into the centre and to create show that can accommodate them.
Over the past four years, the centre has created a comprehensive fast food node that includes Old Fashioned Fish and Chips, Milky Lane and Chicken Licken and Barcelos is planning to open a store there next month.
It has also introduced three large furniture stores, Russels, Bradlows and Furniture City while a number of stores were either trimmed or enlarged to ‘right-size’ them for the centre.
“Over the past four years, the number of customers coming to the centre has increased by 10% and the centre is now valued at more than R1-billion. Moreover, a number of the national retailers are keen to expand their stores,” he says.
“Our shoppers are aspirant, trendy young families who are fashion, brand and quality conscious and this is reflected by fashion being the most popular shopping category at the centre,” Naude says.
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