Tag Archives: Flanagan & Gerard

Massive turnaround for key Joburg mall

Fourways Mall saw a 9.5% increase in total spend during the festive season, driven by strong leasing activity and rising foot traffic.

In March 2024, Accelerate Property Fund appointed a new management team, partnering with Flanagan & Gerard as strategic asset managers and Moolman Group as property managers, who have quickly turned around the mall’s performance.

By December 2024, the team had leased 15,000 square meters of previously vacant space.

New retailers including Baglios, Carrol Boyes, Curve Gear, Echt Coffee, Faro, Le Creuset, and others joined the mall, along with a large 4,500-square-meter double-storey Value Co store.

Leasing activity was further boosted by 111 store renewals covering over 38,500 square meters. As a result, vacancy rates fell from 23% at the end of 2023 to 13% by December 2024, with 44 new tenants secured over the year.

The festive season performance was a standout. December 2024 shopper spend surpassed R500 million, up 9.5% from R460 million in 2023. Foot traffic surged to 1.5 million visits in December, a significant increase from 1.1 million in November.

Santa Land, which attracted over 21,500 visitors, played a major role in this growth, with shoppers spending an average of 1.5 hours at the event, which helped highlight new retailers and enhance the overall shopping experience.

Retail performance was equally strong. Fashion sales grew 17% year-on-year, driven by new tenants. The grocery category saw a 24% rise, with Checkers leading the way with a 31% sales increase.

Looking ahead, Fourways Mall is set to continue enhancing its offerings. A new indoor shooting range, Tactical HQ, has opened, and in 2025, the mall will introduce Match Padel courts (March), a SPUR family restaurant (May), and a Planet Fitness gym (mid-2025).

Infrastructure upgrades, including a VIP parking area, improved signage, and better lighting, are also in the works to elevate the customer experience.

The 2024 festive season also saw strong retail growth across South Africa. Flanagan & Gerard Property Group reported higher-than-expected activity, with notable growth in sales and foot traffic at malls such as Mall of the North and Ballito Junction. Retail activity in November and December grew by 6% compared to 2023, outpacing the inflation rate of 4.4%.

New brands like Ariana Luxury Boutique, Steve Madden, and Le Creuset contributed to the growth, along with strong supermarket sales, especially at Checkers FreshX.

Cinemas also saw nearly 100% growth, defying expectations of declining visits due to streaming services, thanks to improved movie content and favorable weather.

Foot traffic grew by 1.1% year-on-year to 16.7 million visits, while consumer spending and basket sizes increased at a higher rate, reflecting the ongoing impact of online delivery services.

Grocery delivery services are killing in-store visits to malls in South Africa

The 2024 festive season proved to be a merry time for retailers and shopping malls in South Africa, with Flanagan & Gerard Property Group reporting a noticeable uptick in retail activity.

The developer and owner of a portfolio of shopping malls across the country revealed that festive season retail trade exceeded expectations, indicating a positive shift in consumer sentiment and spending.

Notable malls in its collection include Morningside Shopping Centre and The Neighbourhood Square in Gauteng, Mall of the North and Thavhani Mall in Limpopo, Ballito Junction in KwaZulu-Natal, Boardwalk Mall in Gqeberha, and Mall of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

Several prominent malls within the Flanagan & Gerard portfolio saw impressive growth in retail sales and consumer foot traffic over the December festive period, particularly driven by the surge in consumer activity spurred by the Black Friday shopping frenzy in late November.

Inflation-Defying Growth

Retail trading activity across Flanagan & Gerard’s portfolio during November and December grew by an average of 6% compared to the same period in 2023.

This growth outpaced the consumer inflation rate for 2024, which averaged 4.4%. Retail activity is measured through trading density, which calculates sales per square metre at shopping malls.

The success of this period is particularly evident when examining the performance of individual malls, such as Johannesburg’s The Neighbourhood Square, which achieved a remarkable 17.7% growth in trading activity.

Larger coastal malls also saw strong performance: Ballito Junction grew nearly 7%, Boardwalk Mall saw a 9% increase, and Mall of Mthatha experienced a nearly 10% rise in retail sales.

Supermarkets have traditionally been the largest contributors to festive season sales, with grocery items being a priority for consumers.

Flanagan & Gerard’s top-performing tenant across its portfolio in terms of retail sales was Checkers FreshX at Ballito Junction.

Retail categories experiencing the most positive growth during the festive season included clothing (particularly men’s, kids’, and unisex wear), fast food, health and beauty, gifting, and liquor.

A Cinema Comeback?

One of the more surprising growth areas was cinemas, which defied expectations that streaming services would dampen cinema attendance in the post-Covid era. Although cinemas are recovering from pandemic-related shutdowns, the growth of cinemas at Flanagan & Gerard malls nearly doubled in 2024 compared to 2023.

“We suspect that, in addition to the return of some much-anticipated content, the growth of cinemas can be attributed to seasonal weather, with parts of the country experiencing heavy summer rains,” said Paul Gerard, MD of Flanagan & Gerard.

Adapting to New Consumer Behaviour

In November and December, 16.7 million customer visits were recorded across the Flanagan & Gerard shopping mall portfolio, compared to 16.5 million in 2023, reflecting a modest 1.1% increase. This aligns with the growing trend where spending and basket sizes have risen faster than foot traffic.

Convenience-driven delivery services like Checkers Sixty60, Woolies Dash, and Pick n Pay ASAP contribute to fewer in-store visits.

Mall owners and managers now face the challenge of finding innovative ways to keep malls relevant amidst changing consumer behaviour.

Future-Focused Expansions and Innovations

Flanagan & Gerard is committed to enhancing tenant mixes and delivering exceptional consumer experiences. For 2025, the group aims to continue its expansion efforts with new projects and the introduction of exciting new tenants.

Renovations at the Mall of Mthatha, co-owned with Vukile Property Fund, began in 2024 and will continue into 2025, it said. The upgrades include new escalators, a new supermarket, a Dis-Chem store, restaurants like Spur and News Café, and additional fashion and service stores.

Boardwalk Mall will undergo a mini expansion, with new developments in collaboration with various stakeholders. The Capital Hotel has started construction, while new retail and leisure amenities, including padel courts and a drive-thru, will enhance the overall precinct, the group said.

The added amenities at Boardwalk Mall will drive foot traffic and contribute to its growth.

While a well-curated tenant mix will always be crucial, the retail experience is evolving rapidly. Technological advancements are transforming the shopping journey, improving customer engagement, and creating memorable experiences.

“Our strategy is focused on working closely with our incredible partners to ensure our malls remain dominant in their respective trade areas while continuously improving the shopping experience,” said Gerard. “Great leasing is the foundation of a successful mall.”