Lippo Supermal set to reopen on Saturday
Lippo Supermal set to reopen on Saturday
TANGERANG (JP): Karawaci's Lippo Supermal, which was shut down
after being severely burnt and looted on May 14, 1998, during the
riots that swept through the capital, is scheduled to reopen on
Saturday.
"It's a quiet opening. Hopefully, there would be between 35
and 40 stores on the first floor opening that day," Victor Chan
of PT Balindo International Property, the real estate agent
representing the owners, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
According to him, 90 percent of the first floor of the three-
story mall would be occupied by the end of next month.
"The opening of this mall would be carried out in stages.
About 10 stores are expected to open every week," Chan said.
He estimated that all of the 210,000-square-meter shopping
center would be fully occupied "in about 12 months or 18 months".
On Sept. 4, the Matahari group, one of the country's largest
retailers, is to open its Matahari Millenia outlet, with a total
floor space of 5,000 square meters, on the first and second
floors of the mall's west wing, Chan said.
"The Matahari Millenia is Matahari's pilot project in its
efforts to face the tough business competition in the new
millennium," said Heru Nasution, retail and operations director
at PT Supermall, the mall's management company.
Matahari Millenia would consist of two outlets: a department
store on the first floor and a supermarket on the second floor.
During the quiet opening on Saturday, the stores to open their
doors in these hard times, after the nightmare last May, will
cover various businesses, such as shoes, jewelry, sports, optics,
toys and music.
The names of the stores include Bucheri Shoes, Prima Decor,
Bear House, Guess, Optic Melawai, Optik Seis, Baskin Robins,
Istana Tas, Duta Suara, Hoka-Hoka Bento, Lily Kasoem Optical,
Auto 2000, Johnny Andrean, Joy Toy's, Al-Fira, Medilab, Cyrano,
Otto Accesories, Sepatu Bata, Precision Computer, Jeans Planet,
Ocean Pacific, Century Health Care, Murigo Art & Frames, and
Bambini.
"About 15 percent of them are new tenants," Chan said.
All of these stores are located in the supermall's 310-meter
corridor, stretching from the west entrance to the east entrance.
In an attempt to attract tenants and give confidence to old
ones, the management offered a "more than 50 percent" discount on
monthly rental fees of between US$35 and $40 per square meter,
with an exchange rate of Rp 3,000 per dollar.
In the next stages, the management will offer 12,000-square-
meters of floor space in the east wing for businesses selling
factory-reject branded goods and out-of-season materials.
The massive riots on May 13 and May 15, 1998, rocked Jakarta
and surrounding areas, reaching out to Tangerang, some 40
kilometers to the west.
At about 2 p.m. on May 14, the shopping center -- which had
only a few security guards -- was attacked by mobs, who looted
almost all the goods from the 300 shops in one of the few
American-style malls in the country.
Fire also gutted several parts of the buildings, including the
18,000-square-meter Mega M superstore and Galleria Matahari
department store.
Chan recalled that a total of 69 people were trapped and
killed in the inferno.
He said he planned to set up a special gallery to allow
visitors and tourists to see pictures and objects related to the
May 1998 tragedy at the shopping center.
About three to five months before the May 14 riots, many big
tenants, such as the world-famous Toys 'R' Us and JC Penny
stores, had already packed up and left the center.
Others, such as the Mega M superstore, British India and Citra
Elektronik, had also reduced their rented space a few months
before the May looting.
The store owners cited sluggish business and the weakening of
rupiah as their reasons for leaving.
Lippo Supermal, which was first opened in early December 1995,
was once brimming with visitors, including those who made the
trip from Jakarta, Bogor and Bandung, causing traffic congestion
in the area on weekends during its first weeks. On one Sunday,
the mall operators recorded 300,000 visitors.
According to Chan, the owners of the shopping center are
"being restructured under a friendly, willing, and amiable
acquisition".
The current owners are Lippo Group (50 percent), the
Singapore-linked Investment Cooperation (25 percent) and Rodamco,
a Holland-based international property company (25 percent).
Under the new structure, Rodamco would be the principal owner
with shares of probably more than 50 percent.
"Rodamco would be the driver, while the other two might take a
back seat," Chan said, adding that the restructuring process has
not been finalized.
In a bid to avoid another nightmare in the shopping center,
the management is on the way to completing a four-story building
next to the store for the offices of the 052 Wijayakrama Military
Resort, which oversees North Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Tangerang
military districts. (bsr)