KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 \u2014 A glut in shopping malls around the Klang Valley and a sluggish retail property market are among the many challenges retail mall operators face as they struggle to maintain existing occupancy rates.<\/p>\n
While more established malls like MidValley, KLCC, Pavillion and Sunway Pyramid are doing relatively well, others are clearly struggling with many empty shoplots and retailers closing down or moving out.<\/p>\n
Despite this, more malls are still being built. DC Mall in Damansara Town Centre, Sunway Velocity Mall in Cheras as well The Starling in Damansara Uptown opened recently.<\/p>\n
So if you\u2019re surrounded by dozens of other malls, how do you set yourself apart?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to carve a niche, to be unique in terms of retail. It\u2019s not just about a shopping mall anymore, it has to be more than retail therapy,\u201d\u00a0 Michael Chee, Head of Asset Management at Suez Domain Sdn Bhd, the developers of KL Gateway Mall told\u00a0Malay Mail Online<\/em> in a recent interview.<\/p>\n Chee believes that the upcoming KL Gateway Mall has the right formula for success, being a part of an integrated development plan comprising offices and high-rise condominiums on Jalan Kerinchi, just off the Federal Highway.<\/p>\n Finding the right tenants<\/strong><\/p>\n Chee said an important consideration for KL Gateway Mall is finding the right kind of retailers and to have a balanced mix between generic and exclusive brands.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to talk to your retailers and empathise with them. Understand who your consumers are\u2026 they must have the ability and capacity to consume,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n He said that KL Gateway Mall\u2019s focus was on working, middle-class professionals and those from \u201caffluent\u201d neighbourhoods like Bangsar South, Damansara Heights, Seputeh and Taman Desa.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must also plan properly so that your tenants can survive. For example, we only have three hair salons and one florist because we cannot have too many of these, we want to give business to our tenants… to make sure they survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Chee said that other than general brands like Daiso, H&M and Village Grocer, Korean fashion retailer The Twee will be opening its first flagship store in South-east Asia at KL Gateway Mall. The occupancy rate for retailers is currently at 80 per cent.<\/p>\n Strategic location<\/strong><\/p>\n Another edge KL Gateway Mall has is its unique location between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, which Chee believes will serve as a meeting point for many people who might want to meet up or those who are working on the go.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole mall will have free wifi. We are also creating work spaces at areas in the mall whereby people can actually do their work without having to go to expensive cafes to purchase a drink just to have somewhere to work,\u201d Chee explained.<\/p>\n There will also be a 100-metre link bridge which connects the mall to the KL Gateway-Universiti LRT station, which Chee says is one of the few malls outside of KL\u2019s central business district with a direct LRT link.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s lunchtime, you might think twice about going to MidValley because of the traffic jam, and Bangsar might not offer choices like kopitiams so KL Gateway Mall is another option, it is accessible and easy to get there via LRT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But Chee reckons that the biggest draw to KL Gateway Mall will be its automated car parking facilities, which he asserts is the biggest of its kind in South-east Asia and the second largest in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cYou park your car in a lift and take a card which contains a 4-digit secret number, and after that the car is automatically parked at a bay.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you want to leave, just key in the number and the machine will tell you where the car is located,\u201d he explained, saying that there are a total of 1,238 automated parking bays available and 900 normal ones.<\/p>\n Other unique features also include an outdoor garden and jogging path\u2026 ways to help make residents feel the mall is part of the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n KL Gateway Mall will open to the public on March 2 this year. And whether it will be a success, only time will tell but Chee is determined to do everything he can to make sure the odds are in their favour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 \u2014 A glut in shopping malls around the Klang Valley and a sluggish retail property market are among the many challenges retail mall operators face as they struggle to maintain existing occupancy rates. While more established malls like MidValley, KLCC, Pavillion and Sunway Pyramid are doing relatively well, others are clearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n