Alex Mall Grand Opening 30 March

Excitement as community braces itself for opening of Alex 100 Mall

The newly developed Alex Mall brings with it many job opportunities for Alexandra Residants.

The newly constructed Alex 100 Mall opens its doors to the public 30 March

Doors to the newly constructed R500-million Alex 100 Mall built on the site of the former sporting village of Tsutsumani in Alexandra close to the N3 freeway will officially open for shoppers 30 March 2017
A cocktail ceremonial opening will be conducted a day before by the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, which will be an invitation-only affair to include dignitaries from the City itself, the Gauteng Provincial Government, national government and members of the community of Alexandra.
Co-owners of the mall, the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Galxcoc), which is in a three-way partnership with mall constructor, McCormick Properties, and Valumax, said it was all systems go.
Mpho Motsumi, president of Galxcoc, said they were currently busy with the finishing touches to the mall itself and expanding the road infrastructure that leads to the mall so ‘we can accommodate the multitude of people that will both walk and drive or be driven to the mall in taxis’.
“We’re working tirelessly to ensure there are no glitches today.
People of Alexandra are positive about the mall as they feel they now have their own mall which is in the same league, if not better, as all other malls in affluent areas,” boasted a delighted Motsumi, who said sleep was something he had not known in many weeks as the countdown to the opening began.
“I will give a deep sigh of relief once the first opening day is over, and if I had it my way, I would take a long holiday somewhere far away, maybe on Mauritius and sleep all the time to ease the stress I have accumulated leading up to the opening,” he joked.
Criminal elements that might want to take advantage of the chaos on opening day had better be warned to stay away, as the mall will be abuzz with the men and women in blue, including plain-clothed police officers and members of the Community Policing Forum.
“We don’t want the chaos that characterised the opening of The Mall of Africa here, especially on the transport industry front and, hence, we have struck agreements with both taxi associations, ATA and Armsta [Alexandra Taxi Association and the Alexandra Randburg Midrand and Sandton Taxi Association] and all that is left is for them to finalise the allocation of routes among themselves.”
The Red Cross will be present at the mall opening in full force to attend to any emergencies that might arise and so will be the City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services, who will be stationed on the corner of 8th Avenue and Alfred Nzo Street.

Plenty to enjoy at Alex Mall

The occupancy of the Alex Mall stands at 98 per cent just before the opening 30 March

Most of the well-known brand retailers and restaurants will be among the major anchor stores for the Alex Mall which opens its doors to shoppers on 30 March.
Among the top retail stores will be the usual suspects including Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Edgars, Truworths, Mr Price, Adidas, Webbers, Totalsports, Builders Superstore, Ackermans, OK Furniture and many more.
On the restaurant front, shoppers can also expect to dine at their favourite food outlets, including the three leading chicken outlets, Kentucky Fried Chicken, better known as KFC; Chicken Licken, which is associated with the fame of the late Joe ‘Sdumo’ Mafela of Sgudi Snaysi sitcom on TV in the late 1980s and early1990s as a sponsor; and the Hungry Lion franchise which will also dish its offerings.
Other restaurants include two KeYona Fish & Chips outlets, Pie City, Food Kiosk, and many more which are expected to come in as soon as the mall is up and running.
Mpho Motsumi, president of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who co-owns the mall with McCormick Property company and Valumax, said the mall occupancy was standing at 98 per cent, with other stores and retail brands showing tremendous interest to come to Alex.
Top retail brands will not be a duplication of stores currently in other malls in Alex but will be different stores that are on a higher pedestal, giving Alex Mall an edge over their competitors.
“We have not just repeated the same shops found in other malls around the township but we have ensured that we bring bigger stores with a wide variety of goods and services on offer, most of which cannot be found in the small shops in other malls,” Motsumi said.
Motsumi said owners of the mall looked at breaking even in next five to seven years, as they still have to service the bonds and other infrastructural developments that were undertaken.
This includes widening of the roads leading up to the mall to accommodate the multitudes of vehicles and pedestrians expected to descend on the mall over the first few days of the opening to take advantage of the specials and other offerings.
He also pointed out that the widening of the roads was not financed by those City entities responsible, as such an exercise would take a long time to go through the budget process and so forth. “We forked [out] the financing for the road widenings from our own budget,” he said.

Mall opening brings with it new jobs

The president of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mpho Motoumi says Alex residents stand to benefit immensaly fromthe Alex 100 Mall.

Chamber president Mpho Motsumi said he reccieved over 10 000 CVs

Mall to tell Alex’s story

Social researcher Thabo Mopasi sees positivity in new mall.

New mall takes the initial steps for the Heritage Centre due to open soon.

Some of Alex’s incredible mythologies, folklore and reality as the incubator and hot bed of significant national liberation moments and many personalities of note will be told through the new Alex Mall.
This, will pre-empt the long awaited completion of the Alex Heritage Centre also known as the Mandela Interpretation Centre on 7th Avenue where it’s said, the township’s immense and historical significance will be preserved, told and displayed by Alexandrians for local and international consumption. Seemingly a final grant from the centre’s sponsors the Department of Arts and Culture has been disbursed to ensure final touch ups of the site’s development including internal equipping of artwork, historical artifacts, interpretation instruments, office facilities and, the installation of water and electricity supplies.
Thabo Mopasi, a social researcher said the mall will in its small way, spear head the story telling process of Alex’s relevance to national liberation from the time of social and economic turmoil under apartheid till the current moment as told by present history makers.
This Mopasi said will be done through significant murals, artifacts and pictures adorning prominent spots on floors and walls and also, spaces where visitors will engage with locals, have a feel of the township’s unique texture, styles and cuisines and hopefully, hear about the area’s folklores and myths of mermaids, man eating snakes of the Jukskei river and owners of gorillas.
“This in anticipation of the greater details to be provided when the long awaited centre is finally opened soon for local and international tourism to savour Alex’s history and dispel the stereotype often associating the place only with crime,” Mopasi said.
The centre will also have booths with facilities for locals and tourists to record and leave behind their perceptions as stories for the future, expose current community builders and politicians of note from the public’s perspective. “The centre will also have other apps to propel the area’s history into the future, as with the mall create employment and, boost the local economy through the sale of artwork and, be the base of local tourism guides.”Mopasi is indeed bracing for better and exciting times for Alex partly starting with the small steps taken by the mall.

Details: Thabo Mopasi 073 903 8335