Atterbury’s Africa expansion is nowhere more vibrant than in Ghana, where Accra’s new West Hills Mall has brought world-class shopping to the West African country; two other brand-new malls are currently under construction, and a third, existing mall is being further developed.
Cobus van Heerden and Roux Gerber on site in Kumasi
Although the Atterbury team headed by Cobus van Heerden has been flying in and out of Ghana regularly to keep their finger on the pulse, Roux Gerber and his family relocated to Accra this week, where he will be overseeing all of Atterbury’s projects on the ground for the next three years.
The three current development projects are Accra Mall and Achimota Retail Centre in the capital city itself and then Kumasi City Mall in Kumasi, which is a 45-minute flight inland to the north.
Kumasi, where the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation is based, has between three and four million inhabitants, including a large expatriate community, due to the mining industry in the area. Up to now there has been nothing formal in terms of retail, explains Gerber. Everything is purchased from street vendors… TVs, beds, computers; even cars. “Along the main road there is a stretch where thousands of second-hand cars for sale are parked under the trees.” There is nowhere to go for an outing where you have a choice of restaurants, and the few places to eat are scattered around.
As a result the Kumasi City Mall, which is opening in 2017, is awaited with great anticipation and the entire community is excited about having access to a modern shopping mall with all the trimmings.
Shoprite and Game will be the two anchor tenants and other big South African store brands such as Edgars, Mr Price and Jet will also be placed strategically around the mall, with restaurants and local tenants completing the tenant mix. The mall will be around 20 000 square metres, with abundant underground parking, a necessity in sodden Kumasi where torrential rains fall every afternoon. The site was designed in such a way that it can easily be grown to 30 000 square metres according to future needs.
“The shopping pattern in the area is that people buy in bulk, and they shop on weekends, not really much during the week,” explains Gerber. “We want to increase the convenience for people. Convenient shopping hours, an abundance of choice, reliable access to fresh produce and places to go out for a meal and finally, plenty of undercover parking to move their purchases to their cars.” And that is exactly what the mall will do in an area with a dearth of choice.
At this point in the development Gerber spends one full day in Kumasi every week, flying in on the red-eye, and out again that evening. There is a full-time project manager contracted by Atterbury on site to oversee the daily activities.
Meanwhile back in Accra, phase one of Accra Mall’s expansion is currently underway; a new Jet store and a food court is to be added, which will be followed by phase two, still in planning stage, during which the mall will be further enlarged.
And 15km away in the north of Accra on the Accra Nsawam Highway, Atterbury’s other brand-new shopping centre, Achimota Retail Centre, is counting down to its official opening at the end of October. The 14 000 square metre mall is situated in an up-and-coming area where there is nothing to rival what Atterbury is bringing to the community of thousands of middle-income households. As with all new Atterbury malls, the opening will take place on the last Thursday of the month, and is being planned extremely well.
During these last four months is when the final finishes are applied to bring the product to life, explains Gerber. It is the end result of months of planning and hard work. Shops are handed over to tenants for fitment in accordance with the specifications approved for the mall. Systems are commissioned and final finishings and landscaping are installed… all in accordance with a development programme which ensure that the finest detail is managed to the end. “The opening of the mall is very important and we focus on activities and planning that will assist our tenants in making their business a success,” says Gerber. “We work closely with professionals in the building up of a mall brand and we also create a platform for the tenants to promote their own marketing and sales initiatives.”
In classic Atterbury tradition Achimota’s design encompasses an open mall environment with a modern and clean feel with easy flow. Taking the tropical climate into consideration, cover against rain and air-conditioning against the heat is well designed. The anchor tenants in this new mall are Shoprite and Palace, and there are a total of 580 parking bays.
Something that both the new malls share with West Hills Mall too is that, in true Atterbury tradition, they are situated on strategic roads, where there is a lot of traffic, high visibility and good access routes. “There is a good measure of common sense in the strategy,” explains Gerber. “When we decide on the location of a new mall anywhere we look at the surrounding area to ensure that there is a community who is not being serviced as well as they could, that there is a high volume of passing traffic and that the mall is situated in such a way that it can’t be missed; and also that the roads in the area provide easy access for those potential shoppers. It’s classic demand and supply (and a bit of magic as our asset management division anticipates what the shoppers don’t even know they miss, and find the tenants who will give it to them!).”
