Local shopping centres need to be innovative
Posted on | April 23, 2007
By THE STAR
Are our shopping centres keeping abreast with the times?
This question may sound odd when we think we have mega malls that are second to none in the region.
After all we have the “mother of all malls” the Berjaya Times Square with its huge theme park and the popular Mid Valley Megamall and Suria KLCC with its park and Petronas Twin Towers.
Most of our shopping centres are part of an integrated development as compared to many departmental-style shopping centres in countries like Japan and Australia.
Although our top shopping centres are modern with plenty to offer, there is something amiss.
We still lack style, innovation and a wide customer loyalty base.
Let’s look at style.
Those of you who have travelled abroad may agree that we seem to be years behind some foreign countries especially in terms of retail outlet layout and product packaging.
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The open air central atrium with an acre-sized pond surrounded by alfresco dining in the proposed shopping mall in i-City
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The retail scene in Tokyo for example gets better all the time.
Just visit a food centre at a department store be it Mitsukoshi, Tobu, Isetan, Takashimaya, Parco or Matsuzakaya. They offer a wide range of foodstuff ranging from gift boxes, take-away to food that is hot from the oven and they are stylishly packaged that add value and attraction to the product.
As for innovation, several shopping centres in Tokyo are re-inventing themselves. During a recent vacation to Tokyo, I was astonished to find that Takashimaya Times Square is undergoing a major facelift. So has Isetan.
The latest attraction is the art, cultural and entertainment hub of Roppongi Hills that boasts of Tokyo’s largest cinema complex where people can enjoy all night movies on weekends and there are three floors of posh restaurants.
I was impressed with the Arena with its giant TV screen and the lovely Mohri Garden beside the modern TV Asahi building.
Visitors going up a high escalator are greeted by a giant spider-like sculpture in front of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower.
There are also many new retail outlets selling all kinds of innovative things in Tokyo.
There is a shop at Sunshine City selling do-it-yourself teddy bears where shoppers can buy clothes, shoes, bags and what not to stuff and dress up their teddies. The Build-A-Bear Workshop is very popular with young Japanese women.
There is also a florist shop called the Odakyu Florist next to My Lord in Shinjuku that sells mini bouquets in chic boxes packaged with expensive chocolates, fruits and even a bottle of wine as a gift for occasions like weddings and birthdays.
During a trip to Chengdu, China two months ago, I saw a pretty model dressed in ancient court costume sitting at the display window of a wedding shop.
She drew quite a large crowd of curious onlookers.
At a small restaurant in Ikebukuro, a sub centre in Tokyo, diners eat, chat and watch movies on LED monitors placed on each table.
While some of our shopping centres like Sunway Pyramid, 1 Utama and Mid Valley Megamall are expanding or have increased in size, what is needed is more unique retail mix and exciting concept to give shoppers that “oomph” in shopping experience.
There are too many repeat retailers with nothing new to show.
The upcoming Pavilion shopping centre at Jalan Bukit Bintang is expected to introduce some new brand names.
We should nurture more local brands and get more foreign brands but are we ready for a sophisticated product and prepared to pay for it?
The proposed “wireless” shopping mall in i-City would be a welcome change especially to the Klang and Shah Alam retail scene as it promises an exciting concept.
I-City has been master-planned by Jon A Jerde, the renowned US architect behind such successful retail projects as the Mall of America and Universal Citywalk.
In Jerde’s master plan for i-City, the shopping centre would be the heart of i-City with pedestrian linkages to all the other components.
As Richard Chan, director of consultancy firm RCMC Sdn Bhd said the challenge was managing shopping centres.
He said a recent trend is the changing street mall concept. “After The Curve, there are many street malls in the pipeline. A concept must be well planned to meet the customers’ needs and the environment,” said Chan who is the Malaysian Association for Shopping and High-Rise Complex Management (PPK) advisor.
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