There is for sure an oversupply of malls in Malaysia, especially the Klang Valley where we will be seeing a major influx in malls over the next few years.
According to the New Straits Times, Malaysia will add close to 140 shopping malls by the end of 2019, bringing its current number of 560 shopping malls operating nationwide to 700
As per interviewed, Garry Chua, president of Malaysia Retail Chain Association, saying that the biggest challenge is to fill up space amid the current economic backdrop
The occupancy for the majority of the malls in Klang Valley is between 85-87% and that is considered ok if compared with neighbouring countries like Singapore.
On top of that, he added that by the end of 2019, Malaysia will have close to 700 malls, adding to a total nett lettable area of 170 million square feet. Garry Chua also mentioned ways to ensure that both new and current malls have a steady flow of visitors, saying,
One way to fill the malls, both new and existing, is tourism. The government has to do a lot more in getting tourists from around the world to come here, especially from China. Chinese tourist spends about USD260billion globally. They are the biggest spenders
Stats has shown that by 2021, Malaysia is expecting 27 new malls in Kuala Lumpur alone, bringing the overall number of malls in our capital city to 197 – that’s 86.2 million square feet in retail space which will be a massive oversupply of the mall
So what’s your view on this? Do you think our country really have too much of shopping mall? Seems like many retailer/merchant are now going online to sell