The rise of the shopping mall in Malta
Two things are certain to happen next year. First, consumption is decidedly set to rise. The forecast is that you and I will be spending more money than we are doing this year. The two main indicators which confirm the forecast, which, incidentally, is...
Two things are certain to happen next year. First, consumption is decidedly set to rise. The forecast is that you and I will be spending more money than we are doing this year. The two main indicators which confirm the forecast, which, incidentally, is shared by government statisticians, are these.
First, government investments are likely to fall from their current perch - more so now that costs for the new hospital are tapering off.
Secondly it is unlikely inflation will not continue to be bridled to healthy percentile points.
The equation is, of course, a tad more complex than that but it is almost certain that consumption, next year, will absorb a greater part of our own personal household budgets.
Equally certain is a rise in food costs. The prospect that these will not rise to new levels are bleak. The mercurial movement of petroleum prices - which have such far-reaching effect on costs - will undoubtedly continue. In addition we are facing a surge in the cost of wheat and again the effect on food costs threatens to be deep and wide. Farmers in Europe, who for long years have been paid by the EU to keep millions of acres fallow, are now being urged to get back to the ploughshare. This will not have much effect in the immediate future.
How will all his impact on Maltese consumers?
The one economic theory that offers a possible escape from having to face greater dents in one's budget - apart from whatever measure governments may take - is the economy of scales. Dry as this may sound, it does work. It is this theory that actually gave rise to the supermarket in Malta. It explains the fall of, for example, the corner grocery and green grocery shop.
We all know what supermarkets offer - volume. Volume means cut prices. The problem is that the traditional form of supermarket might be coming to the end of its shelf life. What threatens to hold greater promise is the shopping complex.
The problem with supermarkets is that many have become far too set in their ways. What the average supermarket offers these days goes little beyond a large selection of food - fresh and frozen. The better organised offer slightly more including, often, a wide variety of household goods.
Shopping complexes push the fence a considerable degree further. They offer all the benefits of the supermarket but, because of their far bigger footprint, far more, not least better prices and the ability to do our shopping in greater comfort. If we take Pavi, the first real massive shopping complex which opened recently at Qormi as an example, we get a clearer idea of what makes this new trend in shopping attractive.
The two main factors that give the shopping complex the edge over traditional supermarkets are space and volume. In the case of Pavi, making as much as 16,000 square metres of space available offered the promoters the luxury of plumping for wide spaces throughout. This nets the complex two singular advantages.
The more important is the ability to purchase and store far greater volumes of goods and products than the traditional supermarket - and therefore be able to retail at far more competitive prices. Shopping complexes the world over are renowned for acting as a buffer between market price rises and volume wholesale prices stability.
There's another point to be made. Having planned their shopping complex thoughtfully, the promoters clearly showed full confidence they would be attracting a very high level of business. So therefore they set about creating the spaces that offer customers that other attraction - comfort. There are at Pavi, for example, 500 parking slots available on site, 500 trolleys, wide spaces between the aisles, huge bakery, deli, pasta, fishmonger and butcher shops and 25 cash points.
The shopping complex differs from the supermarket in that it brings together additional shops which do not necessarily form part of the supermarket. In the case of Pavi, for example, one finds a bank, a Go Mobile outlet, a flower and indoor plants shop, a laundry, a perfumery, a shoe shop, a book shop and soon a McDonald's restaurant in addition to an existing Trattoria and a car wash. This makes a difference to shoppers. Psychologically this makes shoppers accept that a shopping complex helps one save money and relieves one of the weariness and drudgery of shopping.
There is no doubt shopping complexes, particularly those of this calibre, will succeed and for a long time to come. But what then could possibly come round to challenge the shopping complex?
Very probably it will be the mall - that huge complex sprawling across hundreds of acres where people spend as much as a whole day buying not only what they need but also what they would love to have. You would be able to go to a cinema, maybe visit a skating ring, buy yourself a car, go into a television studio as they're making live programme and do much more.
Doubtless, it will be some time from now but in effect Pavi, with its success, may well be sowing the seeds of the first shopping mall in Malta.
First, government investments are likely to fall from their current perch - more so now that costs for the new hospital are tapering off.
Secondly it is unlikely inflation will not continue to be bridled to healthy percentile points.
The equation is, of course, a tad more complex than that but it is almost certain that consumption, next year, will absorb a greater part of our own personal household budgets.
Equally certain is a rise in food costs. The prospect that these will not rise to new levels are bleak. The mercurial movement of petroleum prices - which have such far-reaching effect on costs - will undoubtedly continue. In addition we are facing a surge in the cost of wheat and again the effect on food costs threatens to be deep and wide. Farmers in Europe, who for long years have been paid by the EU to keep millions of acres fallow, are now being urged to get back to the ploughshare. This will not have much effect in the immediate future.
How will all his impact on Maltese consumers?
The one economic theory that offers a possible escape from having to face greater dents in one's budget - apart from whatever measure governments may take - is the economy of scales. Dry as this may sound, it does work. It is this theory that actually gave rise to the supermarket in Malta. It explains the fall of, for example, the corner grocery and green grocery shop.
We all know what supermarkets offer - volume. Volume means cut prices. The problem is that the traditional form of supermarket might be coming to the end of its shelf life. What threatens to hold greater promise is the shopping complex.
The problem with supermarkets is that many have become far too set in their ways. What the average supermarket offers these days goes little beyond a large selection of food - fresh and frozen. The better organised offer slightly more including, often, a wide variety of household goods.
Shopping complexes push the fence a considerable degree further. They offer all the benefits of the supermarket but, because of their far bigger footprint, far more, not least better prices and the ability to do our shopping in greater comfort. If we take Pavi, the first real massive shopping complex which opened recently at Qormi as an example, we get a clearer idea of what makes this new trend in shopping attractive.
The two main factors that give the shopping complex the edge over traditional supermarkets are space and volume. In the case of Pavi, making as much as 16,000 square metres of space available offered the promoters the luxury of plumping for wide spaces throughout. This nets the complex two singular advantages.
The more important is the ability to purchase and store far greater volumes of goods and products than the traditional supermarket - and therefore be able to retail at far more competitive prices. Shopping complexes the world over are renowned for acting as a buffer between market price rises and volume wholesale prices stability.
There's another point to be made. Having planned their shopping complex thoughtfully, the promoters clearly showed full confidence they would be attracting a very high level of business. So therefore they set about creating the spaces that offer customers that other attraction - comfort. There are at Pavi, for example, 500 parking slots available on site, 500 trolleys, wide spaces between the aisles, huge bakery, deli, pasta, fishmonger and butcher shops and 25 cash points.
The shopping complex differs from the supermarket in that it brings together additional shops which do not necessarily form part of the supermarket. In the case of Pavi, for example, one finds a bank, a Go Mobile outlet, a flower and indoor plants shop, a laundry, a perfumery, a shoe shop, a book shop and soon a McDonald's restaurant in addition to an existing Trattoria and a car wash. This makes a difference to shoppers. Psychologically this makes shoppers accept that a shopping complex helps one save money and relieves one of the weariness and drudgery of shopping.
There is no doubt shopping complexes, particularly those of this calibre, will succeed and for a long time to come. But what then could possibly come round to challenge the shopping complex?
Very probably it will be the mall - that huge complex sprawling across hundreds of acres where people spend as much as a whole day buying not only what they need but also what they would love to have. You would be able to go to a cinema, maybe visit a skating ring, buy yourself a car, go into a television studio as they're making live programme and do much more.
Doubtless, it will be some time from now but in effect Pavi, with its success, may well be sowing the seeds of the first shopping mall in Malta.