Neighborhood Centers, The Latest Option in Retail

12/9/2009

There is a particular segment in society that wants things right away when they want it. This group is of the mindset that a few good options are preferable to too many choices. They know exactly what they want and want to get it with the least hassle in parking, in walking to the store, and in queuing to pay. These same people prefer smaller neighborhood shopping centers to huge malls. They would rather patronize a place that is conveniently close to home, offering a decent array of products, with less of the frills and confusion.

This kind of shopper wants a place where he can belong, a place he can consider as part of his territory, as comfortable as his second home, as familiar as his own back yard, but with sufficient style and enough surprises to attract him constantly. There are also those who love their vehicle too much and could not part from it, wanting to enjoy their coffee only if their car is within sight. There are some who will never look for another barber once they find the one that does their hair just right or a favourite shoe store, ice cream bar, coffee shop, dimsum takeout, but do not want the hassle of paying the ubiquitous parking fee or opening their bags for too many security checks.

To focus on this need, property giant, Ayala Land Inc., has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary to handle the development of "neighborhood centers", small-format retail facilities located within the company's envisioned growth centers in Luzon. This venture is called the Primavera Town Centre Inc. In 2010, it will spearhead the development of five new neighborhood centers, with three to six more envisioned yearly for the next four years. The initial centers will be located in areas such as Makati, Bonifacio Global City, Nuvali in Laguna, and other potential growth centers in and around Luzon.

"Neighborhood centers will offer a convenient shopping and lifestyle experience to the immediate mixed-use communities in these growth centers and will have a maximum size of 10,000 square meters of gross leasable area. (GLA)," a company spokesperson said. Primavera aims to expand its market and geographic reach to serve broader economic segments in more areas across the country.

The structures are foreseen to be more eco-friendly since these would not require as much energy for cooling, lighting, or elevators and escalators. In addition, customers need not travel too far to reach it. In effect, it would be like putting up huge variety (“sari sari”) stores close to home. Unlike super malls, these stores will not generate as much traffic jams and will even decongest such traffic to the big cities.

Naturally, such a set-up is not for everyone. There will always be the inveterate mall rat who enjoys scouring a dozen stores for that one perfect t-shirt, the cool kids who go to malls because it’s cooler to hang out there, and those who prefer the impersonal ambience of big business places. Different strokes for different folks. But it’s such a relief to have that option.