ISKANDAR PUTERI: Sunway Big Box Retail Park, the first hybrid retail park in Malaysia, opened to the public on Dec 18.
It is the eighth retail development under the Sunway Malls umbrella that currently has 7.7 million sq ft of net lettable area under management.
The other seven are Sunway Pyramid in Sunway City; Sunway Velocity Mall and Sunway Putra Mall both in Kuala Lumpur; Sunway Carnival Mall (Penang); Sunway Citrine Hub, Sunway Iskandar (Johor); and Sunway Giza Mall in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Sunway Malls and Theme Parks CEO HC Chan said costing RM250 mil, the two-floor retail cluster here is set to provide an immersive retail and leisure experience to the shoppers as it is home to nearly 100 retail, food and beverage and entertainment stores.
Among key brands featured in the hybrid park are NSK, Sports Directs, Ace Hardware, Tomaz, BookXcess, Golden Screen Cinemas, Skechers, Universal Traveller, Fun Scape by Cobay, Mr Dakgalbi, Happy Fish and EnerG X Park.
“As of today, 50% of the retail space is open for business, with the number increasing to 70% in the first quarter (1Q), 80% 2Q, 90 per cent in Q3 and 95% in 4Q20,” Chan said at the soft opening of the hybrid retail park.
Also present were Sunway Iskandar CEO Gerard Soosay; assistant general manager, southern region, Sunway Big Box and Sunway Citrine Hub, Allan Tay; managing director (property division) of Sunway Bhd, Sarena Cheah; and Sunway Malls chief operating officer Kevin Tan.
Chan said Sunway Big Box is purpose-built with a different concept from the conventional mall format as the company intends to bring winds of change to the Johor retail scene.
“It is a development that is meant to be the place for the community to congregate, shop and socialise with ample space. The large and non-conventional ambience provides a relaxing and rejuvenating urban sanctuary.
“On top of that, our hallmark integrated development will also have a hotel and office tower to be built. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2020 followed by the office tower in 2021,” he said. – Bernama
