Cape Town ready for success

The future success of a vibrant residential property market in Cape Town's central city is dependent on the activities generated at street level, especially the variety of retail outlets, says Theodore Yach of Theodore Yach Property Services.

"A walk around Cape Town's city centre will quickly indicate that, while retail vacancies have dropped over the past year, and a number of new exciting retailers have made their debut in the city centre - specifically in the Long Street and Bree Street areas - there are still some significant challenges ahead in order to create a competitive retail offering," said Yach.

He said Theodore Yach Property Services' recent research in this area had revealed a number of critical elements that would need to be addressed with regards to the retail offering going forward.

"International trends indicate that the high street is making a major comeback. This is already impacting on the way shopping malls are being developed and redeveloped. Cape Town's central city already has most of the elements in place," said Yach.

"Traditionally, retailers in high streets and city centres have not been heard with one voice and this is one major reason why the malls have been so successful with their specific destination marketing. Cape Town's central city retailers have a major opportunity to market themselves as a specific, unique destination.

"The notion that there are no funds to do so is erroneous, as a quick calculation reveals that if each of the some 900 retailers in the city centre contributed R500 a month to a central city retailers' marketing fund, they would have R450 000 a month at their disposal to market themselves. This, by itself, should be a powerful motivator to get city centre retailers to work together."

Further major benefits of creating a powerful retailers' association, Yach said, are:

• Negotiating with landlords to upgrade their properties and be more retailer-friendly where necessary.
• Lobbying the Central City Improvement District/Cape Town Partnership with regard to issues that affect retail performance.
• Creating the retail research capability, which is so critical to tracking and enhancing future retail performance in Cape Town's central city in the longer term.
• Managing the public relations element so that the positives are exposed at every opportunity.

"One of the most critical elements of retail is to create an atmosphere of 'theatre' to such an extent that customers will flock to the area and promenade even when they are not specifically spending money," said Yach.

"Many Capetonians remember when they went to Garlicks and Stuttafords. We now have that opportunity to recreate that special feeling. Cape Town's central city is an ideal place to create this 'theatre' atmosphere as we have numerous historical buildings and squares to take advantage of," he said.

"As retailers are concerned with turnover and profitability, they should avoid being sidetracked by issues over which they have little or no control. I believe that, with all the investment and interest in Cape Town's city centre, the retail element is poised to generate excellent revenues and make significant positive impacts to individual and corporate retailers' bottom lines".

For more information, contact Theodore Yach on 082 4417 784 or 021 425 6979.