Shopping Indonesian style

Shopping Indonesian style

Good news for bargain hunters and collectors of Indonesian handicrafts.

This week, the Plaza Atrium Shopping Center in Segitiga, Senen, is hosting an Indonesian traditional arts and crafts exhibition. The exhibition opens Tuesday, November 12, 1996, and runs through Tuesday, November 19, 1996.

Mulyasari, the exhibition coordinator, explained: "This is a great opportunity to view a wide variety of traditional Indonesian products offered direct to the public at very reasonable prices."

Senen, Central Jakarta, is probably best known as Jakarta's thriving gold-dealing district. A place where fine gold is assayed, bought, sold and made into finely crafted jewelry.

Plaza Atrium Shopping Center has one whole floor dedicated to shops dealing in gold; A "must-see" for any visitor to Jakarta interested in buying genuine, top quality gold jewelry and gold bullion.

Plaza Atrium is fast developing a reputation for innovative and professionally managed promotional events and exhibitions. Just recently, the internationally famous Ripley's Believe It or Not staged a very successful promotional event on the Plaza's ground floor. This was the first time it had been held in an Indonesian shopping center.

"One of the main reasons our exhibitions and events are so successful is because we go to great lengths to create the right atmosphere," Mulyasari said.

"So, for example, during the Indonesian Arts and Crafts Exhibition, not only have we beautifully decorated the interior of the shopping center and the exhibition counters, we have also arranged for demonstrations of Indonesian dance and music as part of the program. In this way, we hope to create just the right atmosphere for our customers."

McDonald's

Separately, but also a very significant event for the shopping center, McDonald's recently opened on the ground floor of Atrium Plaza.

Significantly, McDonald's did not adopt the brightly lit western interior that one normally associates with almost any McDonald's around the world.

Instead, McDonald's have used elements of traditional Betawi architecture to create a unique local feel to the restaurant. McDonald's sensitivity to local culture in this location has, no doubt, allowed them to achieve greater acceptance among local customers.

Indeed, it is understood that as a result, McDonald's are already achieving an average daily turnover in excess of Rp 25 million at this new restaurant.

"All that shopping certainly makes for hungry customers," declared Mulyasari.