Officially opening its doors in three months time, the 12000m² Rosehill Mall, on the outskirts of the popular seaside resort, has already attracted several high profile food and clothing chains hoping to cash-in on the annual holiday stampede.

Fears that the town would be unable to sustain the mall out of high season were downplayed by developers. They said this week that they planned to double up the size of the existing shopping mecca after they had begun work on 456 nearby “housing units”.

The mall is the brainchild of local businessman Tommy Coombs and a major national developer, Prosperito. News that the mall would include popular retailer Woolworths drew cheers from hundreds of people who were given a sneak peak of the premises on Thursday night.

Prosperito head Gerhardt Jooste said they had done their homework before deciding to join Coombs in the development. Included in the research were aerial photographs of the town which revealed more than 9600 households, excluding the two townships.

Although he was “surprised by the amount of money flowing out of the town”, Jooste said research revealed that an average of R43m was spent per month in the retail sector in the area.

“Port Alfred was not really living up to its potential because of a lack of infrastructure … if we reach 29 percent of the existing local market we can make it.”

Development on the Sunshine Coast is expected to mushroom following news that construction is about to begin on a R1billion water and infrastructure project by government and a leading bank.

Jooste said the mall formed part of a bigger development on the 14hectare, which included “a retirement, medical, shopping, residential, lifestyle and motor- related mix.”

Besides Woolworths, other tenants include a Super Spar, which will employ 120 people, four of the “big five” clothing retailers, two cinemas and a state-of-the-art R15m gymnasium.

Despite an estimated creation of more than 400 jobs, Jooste said he was aware that the “biggest threat” to the mall was a shortage of local skills. He said Prosperito would train people from the district to work as cashiers and merchandisers to try and keep the workforce local.

“Very excited” about the Rosehill development, Cradock-born Jooste said Prosperito was committed to several other “amazing projects” in the province to the tune of R3bn .

“Port Alfred reminds me of Hermanus in the Western Cape. It may be seen as just a holiday town but it is more than that. It is a sleeping giant because lof its location to big metropoles.”

Already a “popular weekend destination”, Jooste said the fact that several national retailers in Port Alfred were performing better than similar stores in Plettenberg Bay and Hermanus proved that the town was ready for a major retail development.

Admitting that getting the mall off the ground was very stressful, co-developer Tommy Coombs said the project “was the most challenging thing I have done in my life, except for my three divorces.”

Source: Daily Dispatch