Contributed by Henry Butcher Retail managing director Tan Hai Hsin
During the period of retail oversupply, we often heard from developers who proposed the idea of specialised retail centres to differentiate themselves from other common, ordinary, boring or cut and paste shopping centres in Malaysia. But what is a speciality shopping centre?
A specialised or speciality shopping centre is a retail centre that focuses on retailing a specific category of goods or services. The particular type of products or services usually accounts for more than 60% of the total retail space.
Examples of specialised or speciality shopping centres in Klang Valley include:
- Low Yat Plaza (ICT)
- Plaza Imbi (ICT)
- Digital Mall (ICT)
- Kenanga Wholesale City (fashion wholesale)
- GM Plaza (general wholesale)
- GM Klang (general wholesale)
- The School @ Jaya One (education)
- Courtyard @ SS15 (F&B)
- Viva Home (furniture and furnishing)
- IDCC Shah Alam (furniture and furnishing)
- Plaza Sungei Wang (teenagers and young adults)
- Berjaya Times Square (teenagers and young adults)
- Fahrenheit 88 (teenagers and young adults)
- Shaw Parade (Chinese arts and crafts)
- Pertama Complex (sports and leather goods)
- CMC Taman Connaught (bazaar)
- Life Centre (entertainment and F&B outlets)
- TREC (entertainment and F&B outlets)
- eCurve (entertainment and F&B outlets)
- Central Market (Asian arts and crafts)
- Mitsui Outlet Park (factory outlet)
- Plaza Ampang was popular for furniture and furnishing
- S&M Arcade was the one-stop centre for gifts.
- Plaza Angkasa Raya was known to house many airline offices and travel agencies.
- All of them closed down many years ago.
- Examples of speciality retail centres in other parts of Malaysia:
- Juru Auto City in Penang (auto service centre and F&B)
- Johor Premium Outlet in Johor Bahru (factory outlet)
- Freeport A’Famosa Outlet in Malacca (factory outlet)
- Genting Premium Outlet in Genting Highlands (factory outlet)
- Design Village in Penang (factory outlet)
- Mall of Medini at Legoland in Johor Bahru (theme park)
Most of the successful speciality shopping centres in Malaysia evolved. They are not created.
The surrounding environment contributes to the success of a speciality shopping centre. Kenanga Wholesale City is surrounded by significant fashion wholesalers that have been operating there for decades. GM Plaza in Chow Kit is surrounded by wholesalers (fashion, gifts, housewares and more) that have been operating for many years.
When the rental in Plaza Imbi became unaffordable for some operators, they moved to Low Yat Plaza and made it their home since then. When rentals in Plaza Sungei Wang became very high, many fashion operators moved to Berjaya Times Square. Today, Berjaya Times Square has overtaken Plaza Sungei Wang as the leading shopping centre that caters to teenagers and young adults.
Specialised shopping centres tend to be more successful in city centres and major shopping districts where there is already a high concentration of shoppers.
More specialised shopping centres can be established in Malaysia when the population becomes more affluent.
Around the world in both developed and developing countries, the market for specialised shopping centre does not account for more than 10% of the total retail supply.
The risk of investing in a speciality shopping centre is high. The trade may change due to the changes in consumers’ shopping behaviour and patterns. When the market condition improves, the landlord is required to change not just one part of the retail space, but also the entire building. The change in the trade mix tends to be costly as well.
About the contributor
Tan Hai Hsin is the managing director of Henry Butcher Retail. You may contact him at tanhaihsin@yahoo.com.
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