Mustafa is set to open its first overseas flagship store in Capital City Mall in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. JOHOR BAHRU: Singaporean Nur Hafizah Daud, 35, travels to Johor Bahru at least once a month to shop for her household needs.
Industry experts say the recent news regarding Mustafa has outlined the sheer unpredictability of Johor Bahru’s retail scene, highlighting how an oversupply of mall spaces and legacy issues surrounding ownership have complicated matters in the shopping mall business across the city. “Two malls in the city centre, JBCC Komtar and City Square, are registering 65,000 footfall on weekdays and 100,000 on weekends. At least 30 per cent of that are Singaporean visitors,” said Mr Soo.“There is a high spend in these malls, and also at Mid Valley Southkey, because of the currency , safety, better quality of malls in terms of tenant mix and concept, great food, and trendy cafes. They are simply good places to enjoy during the weekends.
Mr Tan added that based on his firm's research, the retail market in Johor Bahru is"bucking the trend" of retail decline in Malaysia, due to the influx of Singaporean visitors to the malls, which he estimates to be around 40,000 daily. Mr Soo pointed out that his research indicates that Johor Bahru has 19.3 million square feet of retail space of malls and hypermarkets in total, and that this is equivalent to more than 11.2 square feet per capita.
He outlined how malls that are close to the Causeway border with an array of international brands are more likely to succeed while those in the suburbs of Johor Bahru are unlikely to attain the right catchment of visitors. “When I visited the Capital City Mall in 2019, it was a deserted place, most of the shop lots were empty and the indoor theme park was more like a small arcade.”
Legacy issues relating to strata title owners is reportedly a pervasive problem hindering efforts by some parties to rejuvenate abandoned malls in Johor Bahru. “Solving this issue is not as simple as many people think as demolishing it involves legal issues and huge financial complications,” said Mr Mohd Jafni.
“I think it's unsafe to have these abandoned buildings lying around, it invites crime. I hope they can be demolished and repurposed as soon as possible,” he added.