The multi-million rand world-class Alex Mall, built in a sea of poverty in the township, may not be raking in the dividends for its investors yet – but has made its mark and seems to be weathering the storms on its long journey to profitability in seven to eight years.
This is the view expressed by co-owner of the mall and president of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Galxcoc), Mpho Motsumi in an interview with the editor of Alex News, Sipho Siso, to mark the mall’s first anniversary after opening its doors to shoppers on 30 March last year.
Read: Alex Mall creation is a dream come true for Alex residents
The mall, described by Mayor Herman Mashaba during the opening ceremony as a ‘baby of Alex that needed to be nurtured to maturity’, encountered a number of pitfalls in its first year of operation which Motsumi alluded to, and said they were a learning curve.
Considering the Living Standards Measure (LSM) of Alexandra being one of the lowest in the country, Motsumi said they initially encountered problems with tenants who could not continue their lease obligations and had to close down their outlets.
“The other major issue we encountered was the criminal element. We had a number of robberies in the mall as we were considered by criminals as a sitting duck and an easy target for their nefarious activities. I am glad to say we have since overcome that.
“I may not be privileged to disclose the nitty-gritty of what we did to solve that nightmare and suffice to say we increased our security measures, among other things, and those interventions are now paying dividends, as we haven’t had an incident since the implementation of the various recommendations.”
One other major ‘failure’ on their part, which Motsumi believes led to the perceived exodus of tenants from the mall shortly after it opened its doors to shoppers, was the lack of what he described as a well-orchestrated and coordinated marketing strategy to lure shoppers and attract outsiders to the mall.
“As a result, turnover was not what we expected and hence the reason why we lost some tenants in the infancy of the mall’s operation. Running a mall is not pap and vleis, it requires patience as this is a long-term investment. It’s not something you put up today and then tomorrow you expect returns to begin coming in. It requires… a [great] deal of patience to make it work.
“Some people thought that within a year the standard would have drastically dropped, but it now gives them pride that it hasn’t happened and we have managed to maintain it. The mall and its surrounds, including inside the mall itself and the store outlets are still as they were when we first opened our doors, if not better.
Read: Woman robbed of cash in Alex Mall, police investigate
“I am pleased to say the operation has stabilised from the teething problems we experienced and if we can continue to run a tight ship, I have no reason to doubt that the future is more than just bright, but dazzling.”
Asked whether, after a year of its operation, he would do it all over again, Motsumi confidently replied, “Yes and why not!”
Alex Mall is a R500-million joint investment between Galxcoc, McCormick Properties and Valumax.
