“Atakent mall” is a unique shopping and entertainment center for people of all ages.
At a time when the clothing markets lost their relevance and their place was taken by shopping and entertainment centers, the management of Atakent mall decided to keep up with the times and reconstructed the Karkara market into a successful shopping and entertainment center Atakent Mall.
On the eve of the New Year, we interviewed the head of the company “Expo-design” MACYPOVA MADINA MARATOVNA.
– Dear Madina Maratovna, please tell me, what is the Atakent Mall today and what can it offer to customers and entrepreneurs?
– Atakent Mall shopping center is first of all a modern shopping center with a unique entertainment complex for families and children of all ages: the very best Gravity trampoline park, Profiland- the only one of a kind fascinating children’s city of professions , “Target”- a unique archery club and crossbow , “Sydney Show”- the world of children’s holidays , “Balaland”- an entertaining soft, and most importantly safe park for children under 12 years old , “Jungle Play”children’s amusement park and the new 5-hall cinema “Kinopark Student”, which open their doors in spring and summer of 2019.
Today, the territory of Atakent is a whole eco-system, where all life cycles of a modern city dweller and a modern family as a full-fledged social unit take place. The territory includes not only a park and a shopping and entertainment center, but also offices, exhibitions, a hotel, business and fitness centers, restaurants.
– What is the total and commercial area of the mall, recreation area for visitors and how many people per month visit it on average?
– The total project area of the shopping and entertainment center is 45,000 square meters with a large, and most importantly, free surface and underground parking for 1200 cars. Now at the beginning of the way we are visited by about 350,000 people per month.
– What is the difference between the shopping mall “Atakent mall” and other shopping and entertainment centers, what is its originality?
– It is important to remember that our project was launched in the early 90s, initially it was the Karkara market with an area of 14,000 square meters in the territory of the Atakent Exhibition Center. That is why, of course, we are different from other shopping and entertainment centers, because we began our commercial activities during the time of the establishment of a market economy, when businessmen, taking the opportunity, were carrying tons of goods from abroad. During this time we have developed a strong foundation of our experienced entrepreneurs and well-established clientele. The project was successful. But today, flea markets have lost their relevance, and shopping and entertainment centers have now taken their place. And we decided to keep abreast of the times and reconstruct the successful Karkara market into a no less successful shopping and entertainment center Atakent Mall.
If we consider the largest shopping and entertainment centers in the country, we can see that all have the same brands and tenants. We wanted to be different, to have our own zest. In developing the concept, we decided to create a balanced shopping area with the overwhelming participation of individual entrepreneurs with their own unique product for people of all ages. So for ourselves, we noted the main thing: 60% of retail space and 40% of entertainment space.
– What was the main idea of creating such a center?
– As it was said earlier, as part of the modernization of the Kazakhstan Business Cooperation Center “Atakent”, it was decided to make the transition from a shopping center of regional significance to a shopping and entertainment complex on a city scale. And as a super task to move away from the format of the mall “ALL UNDER ONE ROOF” to the new format in the Republic of Kazakhstan – “ALL IN ONE TERRITORY”! Our main customers are a full-fledged modern family in all its aspects: home – leisure – work. At the core of our work was the desire to create a complex of institutions and formats that create a harmonious space for the comprehensive life of a modern family and attract a family audience to the entire Atakent park area. So that after pleasant shopping you can spend time with your family in the park, and on the way back you can have a tasty snack and buy food at home in the supermarket.
– Having carefully analyzed the market, we came to the conclusion that the largest number of visitors can be provided by a large shopping and entertainment center, in which we could provide a mix of shopping and entertainment areas that is interesting for all age categories.
In addition, we wanted to pay special attention to thematic pastime, to complement the shopping process with an interesting entertainment component: interactive entertainment, sports tournaments and events. At the same time, we wanted to focus on the educational element of entertainment formats for children. So that they, spending time with us, can have the opportunity to at least develop a sport, mentally, spiritually and have the opportunity to reveal their talents. Such entertainment, in our opinion, is the engine of commerce. And that is why, we chose the most successful ratio of trade and entertainment at 60 /
– The reconstruction is carried out by the management team of the Atakent Mall shopping and entertainment center with the help of a team of consultants from KANAYAN Retail & Development Consulting, the project company LLP “Town Planning and K”, the architects of Sfera studio and the building company LLP “Expo-Stroy” To reconstruct the market and create a successful and profitable shopping and entertainment center requires the cooperation of specialists from various fields: from marketing specialists and financiers to architects and builders. Design and construction of shopping centers is a very difficult task. It is necessary to take into account many factors: to plan the flow of visitors, create a comfortable and safe environment – both for visitors and tenants, think over all the nuances and costs of operation.
– What were the real amounts of investment to create such a center and how much time was spent on the implementation of such a large-scale project?
– The cost of a shopping center can vary considerably depending on the area, location, infrastructure, significant changes in the economy. It is logical that the reconstruction and construction of the shopping and entertainment center requires significant financial investments. To date, the cost of our project is 10.0 billion tenge.
The process of reconstruction and renovation of the mall from laying the foundation to cutting the ribbon itself is a rather complicated and long stage, which takes about two to three years. In our particular case, we started the reconstruction of the mall in 2016, and completed it in the spring of 2018.
– Were all your plans implemented or is there something else to work on?
– The construction of the mall took place in 3 stages. On January 8, 2017, the first phase was completed. It was marked by the transfer of the mobility center “Student” to a new location, as well as its expansion twice in size. To date, Student’s CM has become the largest center of mobile gadgets, smartphones and accessories in Kazakhstan. I would also like to note an increase in trading places from 250 to 370. Thus, we not only retained our former tenants, but also created the possibility of doing business for new entrepreneurs. In addition, the Gravity trampoline park was opened for all ages as part of the concept of a healthy lifestyle for modern people. This is the largest trampoline park in Almaty, which is growing in popularity to this day.
In August 2017, the second phase was opened, in which the project of the trade zone “Karkara City” was implemented in the format of the Eastern market with a total area of 2500 m2, with an arrangement of two floors. Trading rooms here are convenient for small entrepreneurs a small square. Here were placed our tenants from the street container rows of the former Karkar market. These are the tenants who could grow from small entrepreneurs with a rental area of 10-15 m2 to medium and large entrepreneurs with boutiques up to 50-150 m2. The premises were provided to tenants in a fine finish in the form of cozy and bright boutiques.
In the third stage, shops of international mass-market brands were opened: “Defacto”, “FLO”, “Kari”, as well as home appliances store “Sulpak”. In addition, new trading places for medium and small entrepreneurs will also be available. And in the spring of next year, the entertainment part will be complemented by a modern cinema with five cozy cinema halls in March and a children’s amusement park of 3000 m2 in May 2019. And of course, the unique pedestrian street that starts from the intersection of ul. Timiryazev and st. Manasa along the shopping center “Atakent Mall” and to Arok Atakent and continues inside the park with a beautiful cascade of fountains, it will be implemented the idea of a European walking street with mimes and acrobats, exhibitions of artists and artisans.
– Is the company socially oriented and in what way?
– Our location imposes some responsibility for the preservation and development of a friendly attitude to the environment. About 10,000 new trees were planted in the park. We are sure that we are an important part of the ecology of the city – our own forest, as well as in the ecology of the family institute – the organization of active leisure, family activities and ensuring the life cycle: work-home-rest. We want everyone, like us, to perceive our shopping center and Atakent as a whole as a whole ecosystem, where all the life cycles of a modern city dweller pass. We value the institution of the family as the main unit of society and support the development of sports and recreation of citizens. “Atakent” for the ecology of air and the ecology of relations!
– What is being done in terms of supporting small and medium businesses?
– Almost every our tenant since the days of the Karkara market has for many years been a proven, reliable adviser to its customers, following the latest in the fashion world and aware of all the advantages and features of a particular model of clothing, shoes, and accessories. A well-deserved trust in our entrepreneurs from the visitors of the shopping center ensures the success and development of our tenants. At the same time, we brought to the mall several mass-market brand formats, the pricing policy of which most corresponds to the target audience of our mall. Among them are the shops Kari, Children’s World, DeFacto, FLO. These formats are designed to create an additional influx of visitors, which will contribute to the prosperity of all entrepreneurs in our shopping center. The increase in the lease of suitable space has led to the formation of new workplaces from both the staff of the mall and the tenants, among whom there are small, medium and large entrepreneurs and companies. We tried to take into account both the interests of the client and the interests of small businesses, because thanks to this policy, 723 individual entrepreneurs were able to provide 1,630 jobs, and more than 30% increase in payments to the city budget!
We train, develop our tenants, the most active we helped to build a brand, taught merchandising, created a brand for the tenant book, we did everything to expand its business into a modern shop interesting to the buyer.
We tried to help our tenants in everything, including in cooperation with the tax authorities, so one of the shopping and entertainment center premises is occupied by a lawyer who works in the field of tax law and advises our tenants on tax law issues.
– Madina Maratovna, we know that you take an active part in charity events. Can you specifically tell about them?
– Most of the entertainment formats presented in our shopping and entertainment center offer special conditions for socially unprotected segments of the population: students, pensioners, disabled people. For example, the city of professions “Profiland” twice a month conducts free 3-hour charity tours for children with disabilities and for orphanages. For 3 hours, children try themselves in 6 different professions. In addition, for children with disabilities there is a 30% discount for visiting the children’s city. Also, we regularly carry out such actions as the “Road to School” – for children from low-income families from schools in the Bostandyk district, we provide free stationery and tickets to the Gravity trampoline park. We support children from the orphanage – monthly we give tickets to the Gravity trampoline park and the Balaland soft park for children, and provide tickets to the trampoline park for the Union of Large Families of the Almalinsky District of Almaty. In addition, with our participation in the VTRC, charitable boxes were established to raise funds for veterans of the Great Patriotic War.
– Thank you very much, Madina Maratovna, for the detailed interview!
The publishing team congratulates you and your employees on the New Year 2019 and wishes you and your staff every success in the implementation of all your plans!