Breakfast with the ‘Wolf’ at Ballito Junction
Head of Stanlib's listed property portfolio, Keillen Ndlovu, delivered a fascinating presentation on the growth of malls in the global economic landscape
The who’s who of Dolphin Coast business gathered in the new Ballito Junction regional mall for a business breakfast on March 30.
The breakfast and accompanying presentation at the state of-the-art Nu Metro cinemas, hosted by The North Coast Courier, TRG (The Robert Group) and the Ilembe Chamber of Commerce, was attended by 130 of the region’s top business people.
Head of Stanlib’s listed property portfolio, Keillen Ndlovu, delivered a fascinating presentation on the growth of malls in the global economic landscape and what these trends predict about the impact of the new Ballito Junction Regional Mall on Dolphin Coast business.
Ndlovu discussed in particular the trends emerging across the globe of online shopping and how that affected malls.
According to his figures, 10% of shopping in the UK is done online, 3% in America and only around 1% in SA.
It is however one of the fastest growing areas in the retail sector and is becoming more and more accessible with the improvement and availability of technology and the internet locally.
“An emerging trend is that more and more people are shopping for things like clothing, electronics, books, music and the like online and the companies that produce these and source them online – not to mention deliver them – are taking away some of the business that was previously dominated by malls.”
Ndlovu said to counteract this, malls are focusing more on their leisure offerings so that people will want to go to the mall not just to shop, but for fun.
In the panel discussion afterwards, Ndlovu was joined by Ilembe Chamber of Commerce CEO Cobus Oelofse, and the CEO of the Junction regional mall, Geraldine Jorgensen.
Jorgensen said they had had a busy and wonderful first week.
“Over the first week or so we had about 300 000 visitors – 70 000 on the first Saturday alone.”
Oelofse said the chamber expects the mall to be a game changer for the area.
“We were leaking money to Gateway and Umhlanga for years but no longer,” said Oelefse.
“Our aim with these business events are simple – to add real value to businessmen and women by getting leaders in their fields to discuss topics that really matter and affect local business”, said Pieter Naudé, director of The North Coast Courier.
>>> Meet the top players in the North Coast property industry. See our Property People feature.
>>> Looking for a church? Check out our Churches on the North Coast feature.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.
Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.
Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here, or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.
