Every weekend, I would go shopping, I meant window shopping. Anyway, the main destination is still shopping malls. I have only a few favourites. Number one is 1 Utama, followed very closely by Sunway Pyramid and then Mid Valley. The rest are just too far for my liking since I stay in Kelana Jaya. I do not wish to be on the road for more than one hour and still have to pay high parking fees. If I go back to Ipoh, my parents love to go Tesco and of course I drove them there. I have also been to Empire, SS2 Mall, Berjaya Times Square and even Pavillion within the past few weeks. So, yes, I love malls.
Do I think there are too many malls in KL / Selangor? Many of the comments online seemed to point to that but I beg to differ. I feel that as Greater KL becomes even more populated, more malls would be needed, especially the smaller, community based ones. It would be very tough to maintain another mall as huge as Sunway or 1 Utama but if it is a community mall, I think the market is still there, provided all the tenants are not exactly the same as the bigger mall right next to you. Would all the malls survive? I think this is very dependent on the mall operators themselves. There are mall operators which are pretty inexperienced as well.
For 2014, within Klang Valley, there would be seven new shopping malls this year and will thus add even more retail space into the market. It is expected that the take up of the retail space remain to be strong. I think this is also because the entrepreneurial spirit continue to be strong or even stronger nowadays especially amongst the younger generation which wants everything fast. For them to work too long at the same job receiving 5% pay increment per year is likely to be tough. The malls coming up are D’Pulze, The Strand, Main Place (formerly Taipan Square/Newgate 21), Nu Sentral (formerly known as Lot G, KL Sentral), Quill City Mall (formerly Vision City), Jaya Shopping Centre, M Square, Sunway Pyramid Phase 3, Sunway Velocity Lifestyle Mall, The Atria, Sunway Putra Mall (formerly known as The Mall) as well as CapSquare Mall (refurbishment).
From the first day I started to frequent Paradigm Mall last July until this week, I have noticed that the number of patrons are increasing and it’s getting harder to find an empty spot, even on weekdays. I think it is because it is in a great catchment area in Kelana Jaya and the closest mall which is slightly smaller is Tropicana Mall. Oh yeah, if the malls work, the property prices next to it would also increase which is good for the owners. Happy buying.
written on 8 Jan 2014
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