The Greater Edendale Mall in Pietermaritzburg. The Greater Edendale Mall management is expecting a bigger number of customers by the end of the year. File picture.
Durban – Greater Edendale Mall (GEM) management is optimistic about having bumper activity by the festive season because of a rising number of customers that continue to visit the shopping centre.
GEM marketing manager Gugu Ngcobo said they had noted an increase in visitor numbers in recent months, and this gave them the confidence of more by the end of the year.
The mall was one of the properties that were vandalised during the riots that swept through KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng leaving many business operators counting their losses.
Ngcobo said getting the mall back to full operation had been a challenge, but they had received support from their tenants who returned and started operating once the mall reopened in April 2023.
“We have a number of national brands that are back operating, and while we do not have a 100% occupation we are getting there and that is why we are hopeful of a bumper festive season,” she added.
The marketing manager explained that one of the drawcards at the mall is having big brand supermarkets, and clothing shops, and since the mall had them occupying the premises they were sure of more people.
She pointed out that they were looking to have more taxis using their facility as this would influence the number of people coming to the mall.
“A significant number of our customers use public transportation and although the taxi rank in our facility is operating, it is not fully used and this to a degree determines the number of people shopping here,” she continued.
According to Ngcobo the large number of people shopping, while it has not reached the million mark yet, demonstrated the massive support the shopping centre enjoys within the community of Imbali, Edendale and other surrounding communities in the KwaZulu-Natal capital city.