While shopping malls are far from a revolutionary concept, the Dutch consortium ECC International Real Estate is set to take the humble mall to the next step later this year with the opening of the Promenada shopping center in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand.
The Promenada, one of Thailand's largest shopping malls with 75,000 square meters of retail space, will be the first in the country to pursue the idea of the 'resort mall', a new type of shopping center that aims to go far beyond simply offering retail space.
The Promenada will follow in the footsteps of existing resort malls such as the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, a vast space offering everything from stores to office space to an indoor ski jump. While the Promenada will be built to a smaller scale than the ambitious Dubai project it will offer facilities that have not yet been seen in Thailand.
So what will make the Promenada stand out from the existing malls in Chiang Mai, such as Kad Suan Kaew and Central Airport Plaza? Well, while the city's two largest malls offer little more than a range of stores and a limited amount of entertainment facilities, the Promenada will offer a wide range of facilities with the aim of turning a visit to the mall into a day-long event.
Most unusually, the Promenada will offer a unique mixture of retail space and natural surroundings that cannot be offered by the small, centrally located malls of Chiang Mai. Its location on the relatively undeveloped east side of the Ping River has allowed the Promenada to be built in a large footprint, so it can be built out rather than up. The low rise mall will be spread over a large area, and while most of the retail space will be indoors the premises will include a large green outdoor area, offering visitors the chance to stroll through a pleasantly landscaped park-like zone incorporating several large water features.
As for increasing dwell times, ECC International Real Estate have included plans for a large 8 screen cinema offering 1,800 seats, as well as Chiang Mai's first ice skating rink, a feature that is sure to prove popular in the warm, humid climate of north Thailand.
The true innovation of the Promanada, however, will be in its provision of cheap, plentiful and modern office space. While the city's existing malls are limited to purely retail stores the Promenada will encourage local businesses to relocate from the crowded center of the city out to the mall on the outskirts, attracting permanent residents rather than occasional visitors.
In short, the Promenada looks set to turn the retail landscape of Chiang Mai on its head, for the first time attracting shoppers out of the center and into the outskirts. This will, of course, come at a cost to the city's existing malls, but it may also alleviate traffic in the center of the city, a factor that is currently a major turnoff for shoppers.
Only time will tell if the Promenada will become the mall of the future Chiang Mai needs, but in the months leading up to the late 2012 opening all signs are extremely positive.
The Promenada, one of Thailand's largest shopping malls with 75,000 square meters of retail space, will be the first in the country to pursue the idea of the 'resort mall', a new type of shopping center that aims to go far beyond simply offering retail space.
The Promenada will follow in the footsteps of existing resort malls such as the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, a vast space offering everything from stores to office space to an indoor ski jump. While the Promenada will be built to a smaller scale than the ambitious Dubai project it will offer facilities that have not yet been seen in Thailand.
So what will make the Promenada stand out from the existing malls in Chiang Mai, such as Kad Suan Kaew and Central Airport Plaza? Well, while the city's two largest malls offer little more than a range of stores and a limited amount of entertainment facilities, the Promenada will offer a wide range of facilities with the aim of turning a visit to the mall into a day-long event.
Most unusually, the Promenada will offer a unique mixture of retail space and natural surroundings that cannot be offered by the small, centrally located malls of Chiang Mai. Its location on the relatively undeveloped east side of the Ping River has allowed the Promenada to be built in a large footprint, so it can be built out rather than up. The low rise mall will be spread over a large area, and while most of the retail space will be indoors the premises will include a large green outdoor area, offering visitors the chance to stroll through a pleasantly landscaped park-like zone incorporating several large water features.
As for increasing dwell times, ECC International Real Estate have included plans for a large 8 screen cinema offering 1,800 seats, as well as Chiang Mai's first ice skating rink, a feature that is sure to prove popular in the warm, humid climate of north Thailand.
The true innovation of the Promanada, however, will be in its provision of cheap, plentiful and modern office space. While the city's existing malls are limited to purely retail stores the Promenada will encourage local businesses to relocate from the crowded center of the city out to the mall on the outskirts, attracting permanent residents rather than occasional visitors.
In short, the Promenada looks set to turn the retail landscape of Chiang Mai on its head, for the first time attracting shoppers out of the center and into the outskirts. This will, of course, come at a cost to the city's existing malls, but it may also alleviate traffic in the center of the city, a factor that is currently a major turnoff for shoppers.
Only time will tell if the Promenada will become the mall of the future Chiang Mai needs, but in the months leading up to the late 2012 opening all signs are extremely positive.
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