Is mall traffic rising? It seems to be the case for majority of malls.
I just wonder why I did not receive even one forwarded message from my friends on this piece of good news about the malls. Somehow everyone just love to forward news about which mall is dying, which mall is closing down and every time there are news that online shopping will kill malls etc. Everyone has forgotten that online shopping in some countries are even more advanced than Malaysia but their malls are still around. Haha. Okay, let’s see if got at least a few people start to forward this article.
Article in themalaysianreserve.com Retail Group Malaysia MD Tan Hai Hsin said shopping traffic for the majority of malls in the country has returned to a pre-Covid level since the second Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) was lifted. He said, “After a long period of lockdown, Malaysians have been eager to return to malls for their shopping, dining, recreational and entertainment activities. Cafes and restaurants have been enjoying a good number of dine-in customers since MCO 2.0 was lifted, while cineplexes have also recorded a good response rate since government regulations allowed for its reopening.
Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd MD Datuk Wira Ameer Ali Mydin said there has been a huge increase in sales and footfall in almost every mall since the fasting period began. He said, “It is good to see, especially with Hari Raya coming up, shops all packed to the brim. The only thing I would caution is this may not last the entire season, as Covid-19 positive cases have started increasing. Maybe stricter standard operating procedures (SOPs) could be implemented.”
Meanwhile, Suria KLCC Sdn Bhd CEO and ED Andrew Brien said, “Shoppers are actually returning to their favourite stores, while F&B outlets at our malls are seeing improvement in sales following the relaxation of the MCO 2.0. We are very pleased that our malls can usher in the happiness and joy of Syawal in about less than a month’s time, in line with the overall resumption of economic activities nationwide after a long period of staying-at-home ruling by the government.” Please do read the full article here: Article in themalaysianreserve.com
Personal experience?
It’s still possible to get a parking spot in 1 Utama even if this has become harder for the last few weeks. The dining shops, especially the usually popular ones are experiencing queues again during lunch and dinner time. The ones who are not so popular may also get some spillover and they too are doing well. Just last weekend, I went to 4 shops before finally choosing a shop which is not so popular for my dinner. It’s crazy yeah. Probably the reason is also because it’s the time for buka puasa, so I totally understand too.
Personal advice?
There are friends who say that visiting the mall is far too dangerous and that visiting a small restaurant is safer when it comes to COVID-19. I just wanted to say that with face masks and social distancing and the alertness, everywhere is safer versus if we are without mask, worn the mask wrongly or even just did not bother to continue using the sanitizer. While the malls have more people, it also has more continuous cleaning, stricter checking and larger space to move about.
The small restaurant would have fewer patrons of course but it may not have sufficient periodic cleaning and most of the time, there is just the temperature scanner but no one is looking. So, to me, both are the same and there’s no such thing as one being safer than the other one. If we truly want to be 100 percent sure, then perhaps only going out after vaccinations may be a better choice. For me, I prefer to take the necessary precautions.
COVID-19 is here to stay for some time more and assuming we achieve 80 percent vaccinations by end of the year, it meant that it’s going to be almost the same for the next 7 months. Stay safe everyone.
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