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How Jakarta’s ailing malls are fighting back
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A quiet corridor is pictured at Blok M Mall in South Jakarta on July 7, 2023. (Kompas.com/Wasti Samaria Simangunsong)
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akartans have long been predicting the demise of many of the city’s aging shopping malls, but a select few are working to defy their bleak prognoses and take out a new lease on life, despite today’s harsh brick-and-mortar retail realities.
In recent years, Jakarta’s malls have contended with the COVID-19 economic slowdown, a steady increase in online shopping and the triumph of food delivery services, changes that have left many once bustling shopping centers deserted.
Nonetheless, the loyalty of long-term customers has kept some malls alive, as they evoke “certain memories for each individual”, according to Nidia Ichsan, general manager at Lippo Malls Indonesia, one of the biggest mall operators in the country.
She cited Gajah Mada Plaza, one of the oldest malls in the capital. Despite its age, the mall had “a high number of loyal tenants and customers”, Nidia told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
She said some tenants had refused to move for planned renovations, even after the firm had raised the rent, because of their fondness for the space. Ultimately, the mall was renovated in stages, without ever closing its doors.
Having opened in the 1980s, Gajah Mada Plaza was a jewel in its time, especially in the era of Ratu Plaza and the Jayakarta Hotel, which were both built around that time.
The mall hosted the snooker and billiards events for the 1985 National Games (PON) and the 1987 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), according to a blog called SGPC.
