Is Glodok still the best place to buy?

Is Glodok still the best place to buy?

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Glodok area of West Jakarta has for decades been known as
the electronics hub of Jakarta, even the country. The chronic
traffic jams around the area, the plentiful street vendors
offering porn films, and the narrow corridors separating the
electronic shops are all discomforts that could certainly
discourage people from visiting the area.

Yet, people keep coming.

The electronic centers of Glodok were among the hundreds of
properties burned down by rioters during the May 1998
disturbances that led to the resignation of former president
Soeharto. The owners later renovated the buildings and revived
its reputation as the nation's electronics hub.

However, it is no longer as easy as it was for Glodok to
maintain its reputation with several other electronics centers
being established over the past several years in other parts of
Jakarta to meet the public's growing need for electronic products
and, of course, to challenge Glodok's domination.

Among the new electronics centers are Electronic City and Agis
Superstore.

The new centers offer what Glodok shopping centers cannot:
comfort. Given their locations near business districts, luxurious
housing complexes and malls, shoppers are free from the
discomforts they usually experience in Glodok.

PT Graha Sudirman Center, which owns the Electronic City
chain, built its first store at the Sudirman Central Business
District (SCBD) in South Jakarta and the second at the Kelapa
Gading housing complex in North Jakarta.

Meanwhile, PT Agis Electronic took space in posh shopping
malls, such as Mall Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta and Pondok
Indah Mall in South Jakarta for its "Agis" stores.

Most of the customers of Electronic City SCBD are employees of
offices in the business districts. A similar situation happens
with Agis stores.

When you visit the stores during weekdays, you'll see most
visitors wearing ties and neat dress. They buy items such as
refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and plasma television sets, and
often use credit cards.

Electronic City's sales and marketing general manager Rudy
Priambodo said that in order to win in the competition against
other electronic centers in the city, including those in Glodok,
his store offers comfort, guarantees and insurance to its
customers.

"All electronics centers are our competitors. We'll provide
all the necessary facilities to win the competition," Rudy said
in an e-mail to The Jakarta Post recently.

He say that Electronic City is designed like an electronic
exhibition in which people can look while getting explanations
about the products.

"So, we conduct electronics exhibitions all through the year,"
he said.

Prices of electronic items in the new electronic centers vary
from thousands to millions of rupiah. Branded items, such as
plasma televisions are usually displayed near the entrances,
while non-branded and cheap items are usually placed towards the
back.

The electronic products offered in the new electronic centers
are also available at shops in Glodok, which people can buy at
slightly lower prices if they know how to bargain. But those who
do not know how to bargain usually prefer to shop at the new
electronics centers as they sell their merchandise at fixed
prices.

Rudy, an electronics shop owner in the Glodok area, admitted
that in the first years after the opening of the new electronic
centers, such as Electronic City and Agis, shops in Glodok saw
their sales decrease slightly.

"But now, people are coming back to us because we offer
cheaper prices," said Rudy.