Mall of Africa’s launch was a spectacular milestone for Atterbury. More than 122 000 people flocked to come experience the largest mall yet built in a single phase in South Africa. From crazy opening specials that saw people queue in long lines to score a R7 000 TV for R4 000, to a rush on the new 3D Imax theatre the opening weekend was a dramatic and exciting event. We spoke to PR specialist Vanessa Fourie from Purple Plumm for the view from the inside
What was the biggest surprise for centre management on opening day?
We expected to be busy on opening day, however did not anticipate that many customers! We had 16 108 cars going through the parking system! The excitement and the traffic from people who travelled long distances to come see the mall was indeed a surprise, especially for a Thursday.
If you could have opening day over, would you do anything differently?
Bring Joburg traffic to a standstill again!
Do you know how many opening parties there were in total between all the tenants?
Some tenants opted not to have their opening functions on the day the mall opened. On opening day the majority of our tenants had various activations taking place inside their stores.
Which store opening promotions were most successful?
As always electronics and fashion promotions did extremely well.
It’s been a month now… have things settled down a bit?
Things are starting to calm down a little, however the mall is still extremely busy over the weekends. What is also very encouraging, is the number of return visitors to the mall. Initial stats indicate that as much as 42.5% visitors return over a two week period.
Excluding opening weekend, what day has been the busiest?
Saturday 7 May was the busiest so far, with 68 922 people through the doors.
With such a busy mall, the Lost and Found office must be full of interesting things… what is currently in there?
Yes, people do mislay things while shopping… We have items like ID books, driver’s licences and bank cards.
People seem confused by the parking. What are your best parking tips when coming to the MoA?
The parkades are spread right around the mall and are identified by letters and numbering per parkade, so it’s important to take note of those where you park. What we would urge customers to do is to take note of the entrance numbers as well.
What is the best feedback you’ve received so far?
People are very taken by the design of the mall, particularly the volumes – the very high ceilings and the shopfront designs. The flagship stores and new brands have also attracted a lot of positive comments.
Interesting Mall of Africa facts from fatti
fatti is a technology company focusing on the retail market that tells retailers what they want to know about customer behaviour.
