The Sunway Carnival Mall in Seberang Jaya has doubled in size with its expansion plan completed.
The RM500 million expansion exercise will see the mall doubling its retail space to 1 million square feet from the current 500,000 square feet with a confirmed occupancy of 95% to date.
The mall expansion is scheduled to open on 1 April 2022 and is expected to attain 100% occupancy by 2H2022.
It also anticipates annual visitation to reach 12 million once completed.
The additional retail space will enable Sunway Carnival Mall to introduce a list of of 1st stores in Penang mainland, 1st stores in Penang and a number of large format stores; these include a mix of international, regional and local retail brands such as Jaya Grocer, JD Sports, Bath & Body Works, Innisfree, Laneige, Victoria Secret and more. It will also see the largest GSC Cinemas in the northern region with 13 screens.
With double the space, the number of shops is set to increase by 60% from 220 shops to 350 shops. Collectively, this exercise is expected to bring about economic and social multipliers with an additional 1500 new jobs created for the local community.
Though the expansion is still confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic; Sunway Malls remains optimistic about the long-term potential of the Penang retail market.
Pre-pandemic 2019 economic data highlighted Penang’s median monthly household income continued to expand at a faster pace than its annual median household expenditure during 2016–19, indicating growing disposable income. It had the fourth-largest share of T20 households in the country.
Penang also enjoys a high level of urbanization at 91% with a population density at 1,500 persons per square kilometre, one of the highest in the country.
“Penang is a highly urbanized, affluent and discerning market. Given such strong fundamentals, we need to be well-prepared and well ready when normality returns.
“The seeding thought for Sunway Malls is to deliver a more comprehensive retail brand presence beyond Klang Valley into other key urban markets. It is about growing, curating and completing the retail mix for the Penang market. added Chan.
“We believe too that a long-term, progressive and visionary view that goes beyond the current crisis is needed. Hence, we remain confident and build for the future – first with Sunway eMall and now Sunway Carnival expansion. The long term outlook of the mall industry remains bright and robust,” said HC Chan CEO of Sunway Malls & Theme Parks.
“The ultimate objective of the mall is to serve the people in Penang and to cater to the demands of the growing community especially in the Mainland.
“In essence, our intention is to create a wholesome lifestyle experience that is engaging, interactive and elevated for everyone to enjoy no matter their preference. Brick-and-mortar will still be relevant post pandemic. A visit to the mall is considered as a social event, a time to meet friends, make new friends, and buy quality merchandise,” he added.
“Upon the opening of the expansion, our next focus will be the refurbishment of Sunway Carnival Mall phase 1,” said Sunway Carnival Mall general manager Chai Wen Yew.
Meanwhile, the mall group has also reported positive recovery. As of Nov 2021, both traffic and sales have shown 80% & 90% normality respectively compared to the same pre-pandemic period of 2019. The mall group expects the number to sustain till the year-end festivity.
Sunway Malls is optimistic that its recovery can be sustained with full compliance of safety protocols on the national level. It expects to attain full pre-pandemic level performance in the near term.