Shoppers’ haven at 1 Utama

By ELAINE ANG

1 Utama shopping centre, the crown jewel of the Bandar Utama township, is considered by many as a shopper's haven. 

The area had experienced an unprecedented growth that in turn strongly boosted the demand for retail space at the mall, which was first opened for business in 1995.  

See Hoy Chan Holdings Group director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok said the very long tenant waiting list for 1 Utama led the group to commission a research to see if there was a need for expansion. 

“The research came back very positive. There was a big demand and need for more space to cater for the more sophisticated and upmarket crowd. These were the guidelines we used to expand 1 Utama,” he said, adding that the tenant mix of 1 Utama was also trending towards the upmarket segment. 

The flagship U Parkson at 1 Utama's new phase.

The group spent a total of RM300mil for the expansion, which had its soft opening on Dec 13 with 60% of shops opened. All shops are expected to be fully open by end January 2004. 

1 Utama currently has a net lettable area of 1.6 million sq ft and 398 shop units (compared with 220 units in the old phase) of which all have been taken up. The group would be expecting a 12% return on investment for 1 Utama.  

Its anchor departmental store is U Parkson, a more upmarket and trendy flagship Parkson outlet taking up 140,000 sq ft while its anchor supermarket is Giant Fresh, which has 40% of its space for fresh food and perishables with 120,000 sq ft. 

It also has 12 junior anchors, each taking a floor space of 20,000 to 40,000 sq ft. The new phase would also incorporate an aviary, bio park and petting zoo which will be opened in March 2004 as well as a diving pool and rock climbing wall. 

“For a mall to be successful, we need to cater for all the needs of the shoppers, including food and entertainment. Shopping has now become a family outing,” Teo said. 

Another important aspect was traffic. With the expansion, 1 Utama now has more car park bays, which increased from 3,000 bays to 7,000 bays. “There is also an underpass to provide a free flow of traffic to the new phase, thus improving traffic flow,” he said. 

According to Retail Network director Robert Jalleh, who also acts as See Hoy Chan Holdings' retail consultant, 1 Utama is expected to attract 25 million people per annum from next year compared to 15 million in 1996. 

On increased competition from its neighbours in the vicinity like Ikano Power Centre and The Curve, Teo remained unfazed.  

“We are all servicing different market segments and complementing each other. The whole stretch will be like a magnet to attract shoppers and it will be advantageous as there will be a spill-over effect of shoppers visiting all the complexes,” he said.