Malls are coining it

Latest figures from the SA Property Owners Association (SAPOA) show consumer spending in a sample of 76 malls across SA is up about 30% in the four years to September 2011. Spend per capita rose from R104,90/month in the January-September 2007 period to R136,20/month in January-September 2011.

Yet the number of shoppers frequenting malls is on the decline. Average foot count dropped 15.2% over the same four-year period, a trend that IPD research head Jess Cleland ascribes to the rapid growth in new retail supply. Over the past four years, SA's tally of malls bigger than 30000m² has increased by 50%, from 88 to 131 (SA Council of Shopping Centres).

Source: Financial Mail