Wholesale centers still popular among visitors
Wholesale centers still popular among visitors
By Imran Rusli
JAKARTA (JP): Pasar Pagi has changed. Its image as a crowded,
stifling, crummy, noisy and disorderly wholesale center has
faded. Since officially occupying its new location on Jalan Raya
Mangga Dua almost six years ago, Pasar Pagi has acquired a
different look.
The 83,000-square-meter building on a 2.1-hectare plot was
designed to allow air to circulate smoothly through the
ventilation channels. The third floor boutique and cosmetics
center was equipped with air conditioning last year.
"Visitors and traders alike do not have to fan themselves
anymore like in the old Pasar Pagi," said a haberdashery shop
assistant at Cendana Garment Accessories on the third floor.
Pasar Pagi was initially planned as a wholesale market because
the 960 stall owners were former traders at Pasar Pagi, Pasar
Petak Baru, Kongsi Besar and Jelakeng, the large downtown
wholesale centers. They occupy more than 50 percent of the 2,580
stalls, priced between Rp 3.2 and Rp 5.8 million a square meter,
available at the shopping complex built with an investment of Rp
80 billion.
They transform their four to six-square-meter stalls into
showrooms. Big transactions, in tons or per container, also take
place in the stalls, but the merchandise is stocked in warehouses
in downtown.
The retail business in this market has grown rapidly since
1993. "Retail has now reached nearly 70 percent," said Djaya
Dianto, marketing manager of PT Praja Puri Indah, the owner and
manager of the property.
Prices
Many people like to do their shopping at Pasar Pagi Mangga
Dua, "because there is a full range of the merchandise, the
prices are low and the place is not suffocating like Tanah Abang
or Cipulir (markets)," insisted Dianto.
The market, Dianto explained, sells more than 12,000 items
including garments, accessories, electronic goods, stationary,
interior design and art pieces, leather products, cosmetics,
sports equipment, car accessories and toys.
Dianto estimated that 30,000 people visit Pasar Pagi every
day. The number reaches 200,000 on holidays, particularly before
Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
The building has 27 escalators, two capsule-shaped elevators,
and staircases to keep visitors from tiring.
The parking lots are spacious and "there is a car call service
in the front like at Blok M Plaza and Pasaraya," gushed a woman
from South Jakarta.
"There are automatic teller machines from 24 banks inside the
building so I don't have to leave when I run out of cash," said a
shopper from Pluit, North Jakarta.
According to Dianto, Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua rakes in Rp 2
billion a day.
The shopping center gets regular clients from Malaysia,
Brunei, Dubai, Japan, Yaman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, India,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Nigeria. They come to buy from the
garment wholesalers who make up 65 percent of the center's
traders.
Dianto is optimistic that Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua will continue
developing despite new competitors along Jalan Raya Mangga Dua.
"Our market share and target market were established a long
time ago. That is a strength that other wholesale centers do not
possess," he said.
JITC
The Jakarta International Trade Center (JITC), next to Pasar
Pagi Mangga Dua, has a more elegant look. The building has seven
floors measuring 10,000 square meters each, and is fully air
conditioned.
According to Erna Wijaya, marketing manager of PT Duta
Pertiwi, the JITC was officially opened by Minister of Trade
Arifin Siregar on Jan. 11, 1993, and is meant to be an
international trade center. "It looks like a shopping mall and
has a spacious atrium," she said. "We spent Rp 2 billion for
promotion in the first 14 months," she added.
Most of the 2,227 stalls, valued between 3 and 15 million
rupiah a square meter, are owned by wholesalers from Pasar Pagi
and Tanah Abang.
"Wholesale transactions dominate, about 70 percent," said
Erna. Garments constitute 72.5 percent of all the commodities on
offer at the center.
Buyers visit JITC for the range of low-priced commodities
available in the more pleasant surroundings.
"JITC offers many facilities such as eateries, children
arenas, a movie theater and the Manhattan discotheque on the 7th
floor," said Rudy, from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta, who takes a
bus to the JITC at the end of each month.
The JITC has a tourist information booth and car call service.
The atrium is often used by automotive companies to promote and
sell the latest model automobiles and motorcycles. This building
also has an exhibition hall and a library stacked with
information on domestic and foreign business.
The 25,000-square-meter parking garage can accommodate 5,000
automobiles and 2,000 motorcycles.
"I have to hand it to Matahari, Ramayana, Robinson or
Borobudur which have attractive interior design; ours is not done
in the same way," said a salesperson of a garment counter in Blok
D, 4th floor. The lack of esthetics is compensated by the prices.
"Buyers get the same commodities at lower prices," she said.
PT Duta Pertiwi considers JITC a success despite its occupancy
rate of only 65 percent.