The Fields Mall ushers new names
Gaborone recently officially welcomed its latest Shopping Mall, namely The Fields Mall. Located in the hub of the CBD, the new entrant in the ever growing Gaborone retail space was launched over the past week, and the first batch of tenants officially opened this past weekend. Other tenants are slated to officially open at the end of this month.
Interestingly, the mall location is said to harbor a historical annex as it used to be synonymous and conspicuous with free orchard of cotton plants, ultimately inspiring the logo of the mall. Furthermore, the location was initially the famous motor desert race playground.
Since the opening, droves of excited shoppers have been frequenting the mall to experience what this new baby has in store for them. The Fields Mall sits on 26 000 square meters. The property has a total of 162 shareholders, all Batswana, who are said to own different share percentages. The mall is expected to create employment for 300 workers.
Exciting news about some of the tenants is the fact that the mall is welcoming new retail shops/ restaurants in Botswana that include Apple Store, Doppio Zero, Pep Home, which already has branches in Palapye and Francistown, and is making its debut in Gaborone, West Pack Lifestyle, D’s Damat, Dickies Restaurant Pit, and The G- Spot Restaurant.
For those who love to explore the restaurant scene, one of the tenants that excites them happens to be Doppio Zero. Established in March 2002, by Paul Christie & Miki Milovanovic, the brand is said to have started as a bakery and al fresco café, and today it has 20 restaurants across two countries. Their breakfast menu in branches such as Gauteng comprises of some of the delectable items that one can find in any menu and they include Moroccan Breakfast Bowl, Eggs & Oxtail, Vegan tortilla bowl, Salmon and Avo Benini to mention a few.
While the brand maintains that each of their restaurants has a unique personality, but share the common embodiment of European Café culture, foodies can’t wait to see what they have in store for the locals and how some of these items on the menu will be localized to fit the local market.
Another restaurant to look out for happens to be Dickeys Barbecue Pit that is known for selling authentic American style barbecues. The menu comprises of slow smoked signature brisket, tender pulled pork, fall off the bones ribs, marinated chicken served on a plate in a sandwich, as well as original polish kielbasa.
Speaking during a recent media tour, Project Manager Hennie Steyn informed the media that some of the retail flagships stores include Edgars, Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Verimark, Dis- Chem, who opened their third store in Botswana, Urban Soul, Simply Asia and many more.
He explained that construction for the mall started in September 2020, and that it was not easy working in the midst of the Covid- 19 pandemic. He said that in the initial start of the project, they had to rely on Zoom for their meetings, as some of them were still in South Africa. He said that he only got to meet the contractor weeks after commencement of work in October. The main contractor was Caitec/ Jumcorp JV.
Challenges he said included the Covid- 19 lockdowns, and they also had to deal with a lot of underground water. At some point, he said that they had to deal with structural steel issues. “We had a number of challenges but we are a strong team, and we were able to complete the project,” he said.
He further said that they were proud with the work that they have been able to do.
“I think this is a top class shopping centre in Gaborone, and I think it will be a prime spot when all the restaurants open,” he explained.
One of the developments that he shared was that there will be a canopy that will be constructed, and will cater to the pedestrian traffic coming from the Bus Rank, and Rail Park, which was a requirement from the City Council.
Property Manager of the Mall, Nazly Dawood explained that the mall is offering a new shopping experience to its customers who come from the Gaborone bus Rank, Gaborone CBD and through other parts of the city. She said that the mall aptly tagged ‘ Share the experience’ depicts the lifestyle of both the bus terminal daily routine of passionate entrepreneurship by the vendors and the CBD’s courteous business style respectively.
“We are excited that finally we are opening the mall today. For our grand arrival as a retail property mogul, we are bringing new retail stores that are new to Botswana market, this is to usher new dimension to our customers. This is to improve the shopping experience as we pride ourselves and share convenience with our customers.
She further acknowledged that the mall experienced delays due to the Covid- 19 pandemic where some of the labour workforce of the construction contractor tested positive and thus were laid off duty. The other factor that contributed to delay was unfavorable weather conditions.
“We experienced rain when naturally we were not supposed to, however we worked tremendously hard to set the new date and we are elated to open our doors to our customers today,” she explained.