Thursday August 9, 2012

Creating a Raya atmosphere

RETAIL THERAPY
By YEOH YI SHUEN
metro@thestar.com.my
Photo by SHAHRUL FAZRY

IN line with the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri, shopping malls are working to create the holiday atmosphere within their premises.

Setia City Mall in Shah Alam, which just opened two months ago, has already made a name for itself by hosting the Michael Learns to Rock concert in conjunction with its official launch.

The mall is a joint venture between SP Setia and the Asian Retail Investment Fund, a wholesale fund managed by Land Lease. To get customers into the Raya mood, the mall will be putting up various decorations, including kiosks that will sell products specific to Ramadan.

Setia City Mall marketing director Daniel Steffe said (at the time of writing) that the mall would have a modern take on the designs of the decorations and kiosks for Hari Raya.

Well integrated: Setia City Mall is a family-oriented mall with cinemas and bowling alleys to boot.

“This will be in line with our theme and our look. Besides this, we will also have a stage, where there will be performances. To ensure a festive atmosphere in the whole mall, there will be roving entertainment as well,” added Steffe.

He said the mall is hoping to celebrate with the community in the Shah Alam area, which has a population of around 1.4 million people. As an added benefit, the celebrations are expected to increase the number of visitors to the mall.

The aim is to support the festive period and share in the celebrations while also boosting sales for tenants and introducing more people to the mall.

“We would like to think of this mall as the focal point for the community and the heart of this new area. I also think that this mall is very family oriented, what with our bowling alley and cinema, as well as the various eateries here. People can just come together and hang out here,” said Steffe.

For now, the centre court of the mall has been transformed a Ramadan theme.

Kiosks there will feature a mixture of old and new tenants such as Famous Amos, Crabtree & Evelyn, D’Riaz and Smart Master offering Hari Raya goods like cookies and cakes, gift hampers and clothes.

Besides that, there will also be special sales and promotions at the kiosks, as well as in various other stores like Parkson.

There will also be free green packets for spending a minimum of RM100.

“We have spent a significant amount on the decoration, as we think that the decorations help create the atmosphere for the upcoming celebrations. Besides that, I think that people are looking for good discounts and bargains, and that is what we are going to give them,” said Steffe.

He added that, ultimately, he would would the mall to be seen as a community hub, and having these special offers is for the convenience of the customers, as they can get everything that want there.

“Our mall is already out of the ordinary, with our fountain and park, but with this, we are hoping to help our customers create good memories here, and to share in the celebrations,” added Steffe.

Setia City Mall retail manager Michelle Liew also added that the fountain and park are some of the key attractions to the mall.

“You can always see many people taking a stroll in our park or just sitting around admiring our fountain, which lights up at night.

“I think that just these things alone makes our mall very unique,” commented Liew.

For details, go to www.setiacitymall.com.