JAKARTA - Shopping malls are still a promising business in Jakarta despite a growing trend in online retailing as few entertainment choices are available for family holidaymakers in the Indonesian capital, according to a US-based global real estate service company.
Twelve shopping centres with a total floor space of around 600,000 square metres are expected to be completed by 2020, with 38% of them now under construction, the local arm of Colliers International Group Inc said in its latest retail property outlook report.
"There is not much choice for family entertainment. That is why shopping malls still have an appeal to locals as family destinations," Steve Subadi J. Sudijanto, senior associate for retail service, said at a press conference.
PT Aeon Mall Indonesia, the local unit of shopping mall operator Aeon Mall Co under Japan's retail giant Aeon Co, is planning to open four more stores, three of which are being built, in Jakarta and its suburbs through 2020, according to the company. Its first shopping mall opened in Tangerang in Banten on the capital's outskirts in May 2015.
According to Colliers data, food and beverage continue to be the main crowd puller. More new brands from Asian countries are coming and expanding business in Indonesia.
Tough competition requires developers to "be more dynamic in attracting locals through renovation and tenant reshuffles" on the back of a government measure to curb the number of new store openings in Jakarta, said Ferry Salanto, senior associate director of research at Colliers.
"In fact, hunting for new brands, particularly in fashion and food, is continuing to become a common habit for shoppers in Jakarta," Salanto added.