SA's retailers embark on expansion in Sandton City

8 Aug 2011

There is good news for fashionistas. The R1.77-billion first phase of Sandton City's expansion and refurbishment will open in November this year, bringing even more shopping variety to strengthen the centre's position as one of Africa's leading retail destinations.

The 30,000 square metre redevelopment is being undertaken by Liberty Properties on behalf of owners the Liberty Group, which owns 75% and Pareto Ltd, which owns 25%.

"The expansion of Sandton City is strongly retailer-driven. We've worked closely with our national tenants to bring the very latest and best retail concepts and designs to shoppers," said Julie Hillary, general manager Sandton region, for Liberty Properties.

Sandton City's entire retail space, including the extension, will total 143,690 square metres on completion of this phase, taking the complex, which includes the hotel and office component, to a massive 215,000 square metres.

Retailers including Truworths (TRU), The Foschini Group (TFG) and Mr Price (MPC) have identified Sandton City's extension as a key to unlocking their own expansion strategies.

"We have grown our retail space by over 30% in the last few years and the new retail space available as a result of the Sandton City extension is important to our expansion strategy," Hans Bitter of The Foschini Group said.

The company will almost double its trading area in Sandton City to a 1,900 square metre store. It will also be enlarging Markhams and Amercian Swiss and introducing a new stand-alone Donna Claire store.

Edcon's existing Edgars store will be enlarged to a massive 12,000 square metre store, aligned to the group's "flagship" store concept, similar to that of Edgars Melrose Arch.

"We are pleased to announce that Jet will be re-introduced to the Sandton City shopper bringing customers a revamped, visually enhanced concept store," said Michael Pienaar, Edcon group property executive.

SA's largest Truworths Emporium will also open in Sandton City, facilitated by the extension, while Ackermans and CNA are also set for a revamp.

"In addition to these remarkable expansions, which are set to lead retailing in SA for years to come, a further 58 retailers will be joining the already exceptional Sandton City tenant mix as part of the extension.

"We will be announcing our new retailers over the next few months," said Hillary.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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