PnP concept store is keystone to Sandton development

Artist's perspective of the front of the Morningside Shopping Centre at Rivonia Rd level.

The strategically located centre, situated on the corner of Outspan and Rivonia Roads in Morningside, serves one of South Africa's wealthiest and stylish trade areas including the suburbs of Morningside, Duxberry, River Club, Sandhurst, Sandown and the eastern parts of Bryanston.

Location, location, location

“The site location is excellent and the developers have come up with something innovative and tailored to the market that the centre will serve,” says Pick n Pay director of property and operations, Izak Joubert.

Morningside Shopping Centre is being redeveloped by owners Flanagan & Gerard Property Development & Investment and Grapnel Property Group.

The one-of-a-kind Pick n Pay store will be inspired by the concept of bespoke shopping. “It will become the local grocer to this market, as it were,” explains Joubert. “To give it an edge in this market, the store will have the focus of an owner-managed operation which introduces a level of service, range and quality that will really impress its customer base.”

Pick n Pay has identified one of its most successful operators for this store. “They are very excited at the opportunity of introducing a Pick n Pay franchise store to this market. We are confident that the operator will nurture good relationships with their customers individually and with this community as a whole,” says Joubert.

Tenant mix

The redeveloped Morningside Shopping Centre will create new AAA grade retail centre designed to provide convenient, quality lifestyle retail with a vibrant new tenant mix which is both exciting and relevant to its market.

“Each retailer will be hand picked to meet the daily retail needs through quality products and personal service in a unique manner,” says Patrick Flanagan of Flanagan & Gerard. He elaborates that while this highly selective approach to leasing is somewhat unorthodox, it is important to differentiate the centre and ensure it is relevance in its market.

“Our research shows that the community most wants and needs tenants that will provide for their daily needs. We believe that this unique concept Pick n Pay store will meet the needs of consumers and shoppers in a very real way,” says Flanagan.

Personal focus

In addition to Pick n Pay, the planned tenant mix focuses on personally owned and operated stores, rather than brands and franchises, and will include specialist food stores, services such as banks, hairdressers, health and beauty professionals, book and music stores, coffee shops and patisseries, restaurants and fast food stores and speciality traders that will add to the offering.

More than four times the size of the previous Morningside Shopping Centre, that traded from this site for some 40 years, the new centre's clean lines express simple elegance while improvements to the surrounding roads offer increased ease of access from both Rivonia Road and Waggon Street, as well as improved traffic flows around the centre to the benefit shoppers, residents and commuters alike.

Open and covered parking will be provided, with the open parking featuring indigenous landscaping and extensive aesthetic ‘greening' of the site.

More details are available from www.fgprop.com and retailers may also register their interest on this site.