MALL BOOST
Major expansion at Vincent
AMULTI-million-rand Vincent Park shopping centre expansion and facelift which will include the opening of a yet-to-be announced international fashion retailer, is set to be completed before Black Friday in November.
The mall’s general manager Joseph Parsley said the changes would offer consumers “a better tenant mix in a more competitive environment” and would meet the changing needs of consumers.
Besides the opening of new stores, some of which have already opened or been relocated, the centre would once again be re-tiled and its bathrooms given a makeover.
On a sneak peek tour of some of the construction sites, Parsley told the Daily Dispatch the opening of the new fashion retailer on August 25 would be a game changer on the city’s retail front.
Due to “contractual obligations”, he was unable to disclose the identity of the store, but said the chain is not represented anywhere else in the Eastern Cape.
“They control the advertising campaigns and want the privilege of the announcement,” he explained, although the identity of the chain is the subject of much public speculation.
The roomy 2 000-metre squared store will move into the space formerly occupied by Milady’s, Donna and Luxe and the build has also collared space from the centre’s service yard, which has been redesigned for more efficiency.
Milady’s and Luxe have been relocated to existing areas of the centre, while Donna is set to reopen in part of the space previously occupied by Milady’s.
The ground floor has seen Pick n Pay, which has occupied the same space since the centre opened in 1972, shrink in size.
The area once occupied by cashiers has been transformed into three new businesses. The supermarket, which once took up 8 000m² has been reduced to 4 400m².
“Pick n Pay has a new format strategy and so it was an ideal time to do this and at the same time to enhance the tenant mix offering at the centre,” said Parsley.
Mr Price Sport, Capitec Bank and Pick n Pay Clothing which opened yesterday, have absorbed the freed-up space and are all open for business.
The banking wing has also undergone a change. The post office has closed and Specsavers has relocated to another space in the centre, making way for a 1 000m² Absa Bank branch.
The bank, which is relocating from Frere Square nearby, will sport an L-shaped footprint, with part of it being housed in a new construction on a section of the parking lot.
“Our investment positions us very well for when markets pick up,” said Parsley. “We are still in a weak, sluggish economy, but economic growth is expected and then we will be very competitively placed.” —