Glodok Plaza to reopen in July 2001
JAKARTA (JP): Glodok Plaza, the biggest and most popular electronics and computer shopping center in the capital before being gutted in the May 1998 riots, is slated to reopened in July next year.
Johannes Suriadjaya, president director of PT Multi Plaza Properties which owns and manages the building, said on Thursday that the rebuilding of the shopping center was almost completed.
"The rebuilding of Glodok Plaza has cost Rp 150 billion, with Rp 115 billion of the amount covered by insurance," Johannes said during a press conference to announce the beginning of the building's marketing launch.
The shopping center, located behind Harco Glodok electronics shopping center on Jl. Pinangsia Raya in Central Jakarta, was one of many buildings in the capital destroyed by mobs during the 1998 riots.
Glodok Plaza, which opened to the public for the first time in April 1976 as a six-story building with 739 shops covering 58,094 square meters, was previously ravaged by fire on April 12, 1983.
The building was reopened in April 1987 but was destroyed again in the 1998 unrest.
According to Johannes, the shopping center would be the first cyber mall in the country since all shops would be equipped with cybernetic facilities.
Johannes also said tenants would be provided with intranet network capability so that the tenants could access information, especially information related to businesses in the shopping plaza.
"Tenants will also be able to reach a wider market because customers will be able to order items via the Internet," Johannes said, adding that the order-via-the-Internet facility would be fully functional at the end of next year.
Glodok Plaza's general manager Daniel Yuwono said the management was sure that tenants would be enthusiastic about using the cybernetic facilities to promote and sell their items.
"We know that they used to do trade in the traditional way which requires bargaining, but if public demands are high through the Internet, which require fixed prices, I think they will apply fixed prices over the Internet," Daniel said.
Johannes said the company had allocated US$2 million for the cyber facility installation and website development.
Daniel said the cost of the cybernetic facilities would be included in the rental fees.
The shops are being offered for between $35 and $90 per square meter per month with a fixed rupiah exchange rate of Rp 3,500.
Daniel said that Glodok Plaza had 410 shops on its five floors ranging between 18 and 600 square meters each while the rental fees depended on what floor the shop was on and its location.
Johannes said that 50 percent of the shops had already been booked by tenants.
"Some business owners who have paid for the shops are former tenants of the building," Johannes said.(jaw)