Page 29 - Sphere No.18 (Feb 2007)

SPHERE 27
PHOTO ABOVE CENTRE: DEBBY HUNG
DID YOU KNOW?
The first HWPG mall was the
Aberdeen Centre.The 340,000-
square-foot shopping centre was built
between 1980-1982 and
renovated in 2000.
star-studded live performances to sporting events and even dog
shows. And where simple food courts might once have done
the job, malls must now offer a range of more sophisticated res-
taurants to tempt the consumers’ palates.
“People used to go to shopping malls for very specific pur-
poses. They needed to buy a gift for someone or some-
thing for the home,” said Tony Tsui, Hutchison
Whampoa Property’s Deputy Managing
Director. “But the mall today is much
more a place for leisure and relax-
ation. It’s part of the lifestyle.”
For a mall to be successful, every
detail - from basic design develop-
ment to the minutiae of its daily oper-
ation - needs to be considered. “To begin
with, you need to have a beautiful looking
mall in terms of material, design, colour and layout.
All these elements need to meet with consumers’ expectations,”
said Mr. Tsui.
After getting the hardware right, an efficient management
team is needed to look after the customers and tenants prop-
erly. But to be really exceptional it is wise to take a leaf out of
the Hutchison Whampoa Property book. The company oper-
ates six malls in Hong Kong and over the years has been re-
sponsible for some of the most creative and innovative ideas
ever showcased there.
For example, take Wonder-
ful Worlds of Whampoa in
Hunghom which boasts 1.4 million square feet of retail space.
One December, the promotion team struck on the brilliant
idea of importing a snowmaking machine from the US and
lined the walkways outside the mall with real snow at Christ-
mas. The Snow Carnival, featuring snowballs, snowmen and
a snowtube slide, attracted great media coverage and huge
crowds, with over 10,000 shoppers taking part in the
fun over a period of four days.
This Christmas, shoppers flocked to the
same place to see the Wow Wow Dog
Circus from Japan, the only one of its
kind in the world. The dogs showed
off their spectacular acrobatic abilities
and one even played the piano! Other
events that have pulled in the crowds
include a pork bun-eating contest that saw
the winner eat 100 buns in just 12 minutes.
“Events like this create a win-win situation for all
the different stakeholders. They raise the profile of mall, in-
crease the volume of shoppers and boost business for shops
and restaurants,” said Patrick Leung, General Manager of Hong
Kong Marketing.
With competition intensifying, mall operators are constantly
trying to offer shoppers something a little bit different. Dis-
count offers to promote the mall’s restaurants, international
food festivals or partnering an airline to award extra miles to
big spenders – anything to give the mall an edge.
Shoppers are entertained
by attractions such as
dog shows and acrobats.