Grahamstown shoppers are part of the business plan for the Eastern Cape's biggest shopping mall along the N2 freeway in Port Elizabeth.
Grahamstown shoppers are part of the business plan for the Eastern Cape's biggest shopping mall along the N2 freeway in Port Elizabeth.
The Baywest Mall, due to open on 19 March next year, will provide the region's shoppers with "the same sorts of extensive catalogues previously reserved for shoppers at Johannesburg’s Sandton City, Cape Town’s Canal Walk or Durban’s Gateway shopping centres," said Baywest Mall MD Gavin Blows.
Research has shown that shoppers will travel for up to two hours to spend a day at the mall, meaning the Mall's footprint stretched inland past Grahamstown and to Plettenberg Bay along the coast, said Blows.
“We are very excited,” said Blows.
Work on the premises for the major tenants Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Checkers and Game would start first.
The mall will also house the region’s only ice rink, which will be located in the Baywest Mall Fun Factory, alongside Ster Kinekor cinemas, a bowling alley, and a games arcade.
“Baywest is more than just the mall,” said Blows. “It is going to change the face of the region. In 10 years Baywest City will rival the likes of Century City in Cape Town and Sandton City in Johannesburg,” he said.
He stressed the convenience of the mall’s location – along the N2 freeway in Port Elizabeth's western suburbs.
Work on the R300-million new road network in the area was progressing well, said Blows.
The mall will boast about 3.5km of shop fronts.
"The Baywest Mall will open with approximately 87,500m² of lettable area and is expected to expand to 110,000m² over the next 10 to 15 years,” he said.
