{"id":880539,"date":"2026-10-21T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=880539"},"modified":"2026-10-21T10:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:37:20","slug":"major-new-shopping-mall-opening-in-south-africas-friendly-city-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/880539\/major-new-shopping-mall-opening-in-south-africas-friendly-city-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Major new shopping mall opening in South Africa’s friendly city soon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new shopping centre, called The Village on Circular, is being developed in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the first tenants announced are Checkers, MediRite Pharmacy, and several restaurant brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located at 97 Wessel Swart Drive in Fairview, near Circular Drive, this retail development will provide an additional shopping destination on the city’s growing western side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent social media post, the mall said that the site is progressing well, with the “finishing touches underway” as it nears completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre has already confirmed a variety of grocery, pharmacy, food and other retail outlets, which include Checkers FreshX, Wimpy, PR\u00cdMA Burger, Plat\u014d, Steers, Bossa, and Postnet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Village is bringing more of the everyday together in one convenient place, so one stop can tick a little more off the list,” the Village said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PR\u00cdMA Burger, which will feature at the mall, specialises in burgers made with veld-reared beef, handmade brioche, house-made sauces, and tallow wedges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular family restaurant Bossa will also feature its menu of burgers, pizzas, steaks, ribs, and cocktails at The Village, marking the first Bossa to open in Gqeberha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flagship tenants include MediRite Pharmacy, which will offer pharmacy services, and Checkers FreshX. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Checkers FreshX is a premium store format of Checkers, which was first launched in 2021 to compete with high-end retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Checkers FreshX stores offer features such as artisanal bakeries, gourmet meat and fish markets, wine cellars, and sushi bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some FreshX stores feature popular in-house outlets, such as Starbucks, Kauai, and Krispy Kreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Village is being developed by Western Gruppe Properties, with Alpha Omega Construction, Axiom ARC, and several other engineering and construction firms involved in the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An opening date has not yet been announced, and additional tenants are expected to be revealed as the development progresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The location in Fairview positions it within Gqeberha’s expanding western commercial area, where new residential developments and business facilities are increasing the services available to local residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular mall in Gqeberha gets a major upgrade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Walmer Park Shopping Centre, one of Gqeberha’s most popular malls, is located less than three kilometres from the new Village on Circular Shopping Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Growthpoint Properties announced plans to expand the Walmer Park Shopping Centre, which is set to bring several new stores, including the first Yuppiechef in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Walmer Park shopping centre covers about 43,000 square meters of floor space and features around 120 stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is owned and operated by Growthpoint Properties, a JSE-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns several major malls throughout South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre is set to expand further, with the first phase of ongoing expansion and refurbishment plans already underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phase began in March 2026 and includes enhancements such as increased floor space for some existing stores and the addition of new outlets like Burnt Studios and Old School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBurnt Studios and Old School, both of which are available exclusively at Walmer Park in Gqeberha, opened in July 2026 as part of the first phase of the mall revamp,\u201d Growthpoint Properties said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional space has been created in the shopping centre by introducing a new mall area, allowing retailers to establish a presence in an already bustling environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since early August, new stores such as Bootlegger Coffee, FARO, and Slops and Clogs have opened their doors in the centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final phase of the shopping centre expansion is expected to be completed in November 2026, just in time for the festive season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This stage of the project will mark the introduction of Yuppiechef. International beauty brand ARC will also be introduced, along with a redesigned iStore and several other retailers featuring updated store spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos of The Village on Circular<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Gqeberha is getting a new shopping mall, called The Village on Circular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":880696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2112831524051583428","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2244209289732803","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18119487929003717","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[21153,26859,26351],"class_list":["post-880539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-gqeberha","tag-the-village-on-circular","tag-walmer-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880539"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880698,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880539\/revisions\/880698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}