Parkson to raise retail space by 11pc

MALAYSIA'S largest department store operator Parkson Corp Sdn Bhd will increase its total retail space by 11 per cent this year with the addition of four new stores.

The four new openings, costing some RM18 million to RM20 million, will see Parkson operating 36 stores with a combined retail space of 3.7 million sq ft.

New openings this month include Parkson Kota Baru Trade Centre (100,000 sq ft) and Parkson 1 Borneo (110,000 sq ft).

Parkson Kluang Parade (83,000 sq ft) will open in the fourth quarter and four months ago it started operating in Batu Pahat, Johor.

With the exception of 1 Borneo, the other three outlets are in a new market area, its chief operating officer Toh Peng Koon said.

"We hope to establish a strong customer base in these new markets of Batu Pahat, Kota Baru and Kluang," he added.

"The 1 Borneo outlet allows us to further enhance our leading position in Kota Kinabalu. This outlet is situated in the suburb and will complement our existing outlet downtown," Toh told Business Times.

Parkson Malaysia, whose same store growth average is around 4 per cent, makes up about a quarter of Parkson Holdings' gross sales.

On future openings, Parkson aims to be represented in places like Alor Star, Kedah, and other towns in Sabah and Sarawak.

Beyond 2009, Parkson has confirmed openings at Festival Mall on Jalan Genting Klang (2010), KK Times Square (2010/2011) and Plaza Merdeka Kuching (2012).

"In some towns where we have existing operations, we are looking for new opportunities to further enhance our presence and market share, either as replacement or addition to existing operations," he said.

In fact, it has plans to close its stand-alone store in Kuantan Plaza as consumers prefer to shop at malls. In anticipation of the closure, the Parkson East Coast Mall was set up last year.

Meanwhile, the first shopping mall that it will own and operate located on Jalan Genting Klang, Kuala Lumpur, is expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2010.

"The mall will be named Festival Mall. It has a net lettable area of 500,000 sq ft and is expected to provide an annual yield of 8 per cent to 9 per cent," he said.

In Southeast Asia, Parkson also has a presence in Vietnam with five outlets. It plans to open the sixth Parkson before year-end. These outlets have been posting a like-for-like growth of between 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

Its next stop in the region is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2010/2011.

Monday, August 17, 2009, 12.09 PM