Malaysia has welcomed the opening of its capital city’s first-ever artisanal mall, making its debut in Bukit Bintang, locale of Kuala Lumpur.
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Dubbed ‘Malaysia Grand Bazaar’ (MGB), the mall officially launched on 31st March, 2022.
The mall extends over 100,000 square feet and features 200 kiosks with customised and compact retail spaces (100 square feet to 1,000 square feet) for local start-ups to showcase their products, as well as artisanal handcrafted items, tradition-inspired creations to authentic local cuisine.
The artisanal mall forms part of the urban regeneration project, Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC), joining other developments — Lucentia Serviced Residences, The Stride strata office and Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport, in the BBCC.
“MGB was developed to provide a dedicated platform for artisans, micro-brands, start-ups and art entrepreneurs to scale their businesses into the physical retailing space,” BBCC Development Sdn Bhd, Chief Executive Officer, Low Thiam Chin told The Star.
Unlike regular malls, MGB offers merchants easy entry packages for their own stores in the city centre. These include affordable rent, fully fitted lots and marketing support, according to Low.
“Our vision is to become an incubator for local brands to reach out to a larger customer base by having a presence in a prime location which can attract both locals and tourists.”
Shoppers can peruse local creations such as clothing, arts and crafts, jewellery, accessories, home decorations and food and beverages.
“As an additional perk, our permanent merchants will have the chance to export their products to the international markets through the Malaysia Grand Bazaar e-commerce store on marketplaces such as Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and Shopify,” added Low.
“Ultimately we want to offer an omni-channel solution to our merchants by combining the best of physical and online retailing while focusing on the huge potential of the U.S. market.”
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In addition to retail space, the mall also boasts a 4,000-square-foot centre court for hosting thematic events, cultural performances and community activities, in a bid to increase consumer engagement and experiential retailing for visitors.