Cavendish, Gateway lead sales growth in Mutual retail portfolio

Top performers among the complexes, which draw more than 100 million shopper visits a year, were Cavendish Square in Cape Town and Gateway Theatre of Shopping at Umhlanga, said Brent Wiltshire, retail executive of Old Mutual Properties.

The other centres are Menlyn Park, Pretoria, The Zone @ Rosebank, Johannesburg, Vincent Park, East London, Riverside Mall, Nelspruit, and Cascades, Pietermaritzburg, .

Wiltshire said Cavendish Square where a 7 000m² Woolworths and additional stores were opened during the year after a R90 million revamp, improved sales by 30% on the 2002 figure, with a 41% increase in December trading. Spend per head grew 24% for the year and in December.

"The buoyant festive trading enjoyed by the retail sector across South Africa was also reflected in December turnover at Gateway increasing by 16,4% over the 2002 figure. Full year growth was on par with the RLC figure of 12,3%.

"With 2,3 million people visiting Gateway during December, the spend per head showed 15% growth."

Wiltshire said annual and festive season growth figures in the portfolio were in line with those reported recently by leading retailers who have benefited from increased consumer spending as a result of lower interest rates and inflation.

He said Menlyn Park in Pretoria, the top performing centre in the portfolio in 2002, had continued its growth off a high base in 2003, with more than 11% growth for December and full year trading.

"There was also significant festive season growth at The Zone @ Rosebank in Johannesburg, with the December spend per head increasing by 13%."