Jakarta shopping mall business ‘still promising’

Jakarta shopping malls are still a promising business despite online retailing becoming more popular, says US real-estate service company Colliers International Group.

It says the reason for this is a lack of entertainment options for family holidaymakers in the Indonesian capital.

Twelve shopping centres with a total floor space of about 600,000 sqm are expected to be completed by 2020, with 38 per cent now under construction, Colliers Indonesia says in its latest retail property outlook report.

With little choice for family entertainment, malls still appeal to locals as family destinations,” says senior associate for retail service Steve Subadi Sudijanto.

Aeon Mall Indonesia is planning to open four more stores, three of which are being built, in Jakarta and its suburbs through 2020. The Japanese brand’s first shopping mall opened in Tangerang in Banten on the capital’s outskirts in May 2015.

Colliers says F&B continues to be the main attraction. More new brands from Asian countries are arriving and expanding in Indonesia.

“Tough competition requires developers to be more dynamic in attracting locals through renovation and tenant reshuffles on the back of a government measure to curb the number of new store openings in Jakarta,” says Colliers senior associate director of research Ferry Salanto.

“In fact, hunting for new brands, particularly in fashion and food, is continuing to become a common habit for shoppers in Jakarta.”