Keetmanshoop Mall opens for business

Limited trading at the N$92 million mall in Keetmanshoop commenced last Friday already, although the complex will only be opened officially in April next year. Tracey Eagles, the executive for marketing, transformation and customer strategy at Old Mutual, said construction, which is fast drawing to an end is well on schedule thanks to subcontractors that have not wasted any time. Eagles also made mention of the fact that the Shopping Centre was designed and constructed to be scalable in future based on the anticipated growth in the southern region with a demand for more retail and office space. Residents appeared overwhelmed with excitement, saying the construction of the new mall has been long overdue, although some argued that its size may be a lot smaller than what they had anticipated. “As you can see we cannot even contain ourselves… We are really grateful for the clothing shops and cannot wait for Shoprite to open. But the biggest advantage is that jobs are created for our children and that with more shops here prices will be regulated and we will not be forced to buy at Pick n Pay and Spar even if we cannot afford it… We are also tired of Chinese shops and even crazy store now with Christmas coming,” said Jenny Resandt. The construction was carried out by NMC Construction, which operates as the main contractor, Hugo Scheepers Architects as the principal agents responsible for the design of the new mall; Windhoek Consulting Consulting Engineers as the project engineers and Dawid Nel Quantity Surveyers. The planning consultants are the firm Stubenrauch Planning Consultants, while Old Mutual Properties are the overall development managers.