Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Bandung are the most sought after cities for investors seeking to engage in the retail sector, a recent study from property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle reveals.
The study, revealed Thursday, suggests that the cities are launch pads for new entrants into the retail sector to expand in Indonesia.
“For retailers with international brands, the cities are categorized as ‘must-have locations’. Luxury shopping malls are already available in these cities,” LaSalle said in a statement.
The study was based on several factors, including retail stocks, demand and proposed constructions.
As different types of shopping centers and concepts can be found in the four cities, from traditional high-street stores to shopping malls of international standard, they now pose as the centers for mall development.
LaSalle has estimated that more than 50 percent of modern shopping centers in Indonesia are located in the five cities.
The company also categorized Makassar, Bogor, Depok, Bekasi, Tanggerang, Solo, Denpasar, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Balikpapan and Samarinda as emerging markets.
Economic growth experienced after the regional autonomy regime was applied in 2002 has created an increasing demand for shopping centers.
The study also concludes that Batam, Manado, Padang, Bandar Lampung, Malang, Banjarmasin, Tasikmalaya, Cimahi and Pontianak are promising markets.
“These cities could offer promising prospects in years to come,” said LaSalle analyst Anton Sitorus, adding that numerous investors had been eying off the cities to get advantages from operating first in the cities. (ewd)
Source: The Jakarta Post
August 8th, 2008
Simon Marcus Gower, Contributor, Malang
These days, when fast-food chain restaurants seem to be in just about any and every town, it is nice to be able to dine and relax in a place that is a little unusual and a little less frantic.
Toko Oen in Malang, East Java is one such place. Although in some respects this seems a rather old-fashioned eatery;the d‚cor looks tired and outmoded in comparison to the hip and colorful styles of fast-food chains.
Yet, this in a real sense, is the essence and joy of the place.
Toko Oen is a restaurant, patisserie and ice cream palace.
The building’s architecture is straightforward and plain in the art-deco style of the period in which it was originally built, in the early 1930s.
Cream-colored windows and doors are partially covered by net curtains and above these are stained glass windows with one or two pieces missing.
The exterior of the building is, then, not much to look at — but, as they say, people should not necessarily “judge the book by its cover” and the original exterior is no doubt retained as it always has been, because Toko Oen is part of the heritage of the town itself.
It is within the building that far more character and interest can be discovered. Upon entering, one is immediately faced with a patisserie counter that offers a variety of cookies, biscuits, cakes and breads.
The majority of the internal space is taken up by low-slung lounge chairs and tables that appear to be — and are reputed to be — original. Beyond these are higher and more formal dining chairs and tables, but it is the lounge seating that adds appeal to the dining experience.
With fans lethargically rotating above on the high ceiling, there is a general feeling of restfulness and a slower pace of living. The atmosphere is much the same as it must have been back in the 1930s; encouraging visitors to imagine the colonial types who used to relax in these lounge chairs.
Planters and landowners would have taken rest and refreshment in Toko Oen years ago as they came into Malang to benefit from its climate, which is relatively cooler than the surrounding lowlands.
These days, people probably stop by to take a break and escape the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Malang is a much changed place since Toko Oen first opened and is a much bigger and busier city.
The name of this place, too, is somewhat unusual and deserving of some explanation.
The first Toko Oen restaurant was set up in Yogyakarta in 1922. The founder of that restaurant was Oen Tjoen Hok. Subsequently branches of the restaurant were set up in Semarang, Central Java (which still exists today), Jakarta and Malang. The restaurants were named after their founder.
The restaurants in Yogyakarta and Jakarta did not survive, closing in the 1950s, but the Toko Oen in Malang proudly lives on and retains the features that it originally opened with.
One of the highlights of Toko Oen is its ice cream “palace”. Perhaps the word palace refers to the riches of the varieties on offer: There are familiar offerings of peach melba, tutti-frutti and banana split, but then there are also the unusual and exotic flavors like “midwest Sunday” and “calypso fantasy”.
These ice cream varieties may be something of an acquired taste but coming in small portions of one or two scoops, it is possible to just try them to find out what flavor sensations lie behind the unusual names.
Once an order is ready the food is delivered, rather quaintly, to your table on a wooden trolley. Each waiter is immaculately turned out in brilliant white trousers and jacket and velvet black peci (traditional hat), which adds to the atmosphere of nostalgia.
On the walls, there are reproductions of old photographs of Malang. These photos offer a glimpse of what Malang was like when Toko Oen was first set up here, and illustrate how significantly the town has changed.
This is one important aspect of the presence still today of Toko Oen — it is part of the heritage and history of Malang.
Enjoying a meal, snack or an ice cream break in Toko Oen, one is quite likely to encounter visitors from Europe and the menu is in parts still written up in Dutch.
In the small parking area immediately outside the restaurant there is a compact, black vintage Austin motor car, which might make people think of a museum.
However, to think of Toko Oen overall as something of a museum piece would be to misrepresent and misread it.
Toko Oen does, in parts, show its age — but it is not a highly protected and preserved museum piece. It is alive and active today serving the purpose for which it was built over seventy years ago. It is a place full of character.
Source: The Jakarta Post
August 8th, 2008