South Africa’s biggest shopping mall scores major win

South Africa’s biggest shopping mall, Fourways Mall, has staged a significant turnaround over the past 12 months, seeing its massive investments starting to pay off.

The mall, which covers a gross lettable area (GLA) of over 178,000 square meters, has faced numerous issues over the past few years, resulting in high vacancies and reduced earnings for its owner, Accelerate Property Fund (AFP).

In 2024, things had hit crisis levels, with vacancies sitting at 23% at the end of December 2023.

However, the group has now reported a wide swing in the other direction, with vacancies reducing to 13% by the end of 2024.

The mall said that this was aided by the turnaround strategy implemented at the retail centre to improve its offerings and tenant mix for customers.

This led to a 9.5% increase in total spend year-on-year in December, pointing to some renewed consumer confidence.

The turnaround strategy was pinned on APF appointing a new management team at Fourways Mall between March and December 2024.

The group partnered with Flanagan & Gerard as the strategic asset managers and Moolman Group as the property managers.

During this time, the new management team filled 15,000 square metres of vacant tenant space, it said.

New retailers that have entered the mall include Baglios, Carrol Boyes, Curve Gear, Echt Coffee, Faro, Le Creuset, Levisons, Lovisa, Polo Sport, Skechers, Tasko Sweets, Uniq, Xpresso and Yokico, along with a 4,500 square metre double-storied Value Co store.

“This leasing momentum was supported by 111 store renewals, covering over 38,500 square metres let since February 2024,” it said.

Over the year, the mall secured 44 new tenants, excluding relocations, extensions and upgrades.

The management team has also done infrastructure improvements, including a new VIP parking area, and provided directional signage, and upgraded lighting in the parkade and common areas of the mall.

The group said that approximately 1.5 million visited the mall over December, up from 1.1 million in November and October.

“Retail category performance further highlights the mall’s positive growth curve. Fashion sales grew by 17% YoY, driven by new tenant additions, while the grocery segment saw 24% growth YoY, with Checkers recording a 31% increase in sales,” it said.

The mall’s management team said that the path forward is also more optimistic, with new tenants and attractions coming in 2025.

This includes a large indoor shooting range, Tactical HQ, which has already opened.

Upcoming additions include

• Match Padel courts, expected to open March 2025,
• A new Spur family restaurant, expected to open in May 2025
• A Planet Fitness gym, set to open towards the middle of the year.