Purple Capital’s Maryland Mall Displays Growing Retail Trends

Have you heard about the new shopping trend, the new wind of change blowing across the agro-allied, business and commercial landscape?

It’s called “modern retail”.  If you however still do most of your shopping in a traditional outdoor African-style market, then you’re not alone.

A recent study conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute shows that informal markets still supply between 85 and 95 percent of all food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa.

The modern-format retail supermarket is however a growing phenomenon across the continent, with Nigeria, potentially the largest consumer market in the Middle East and Africa region, poised to be a retailers’ delight.

According to the Broll Property Group, a commercial property services firm, Nigeria has at least 18 large shopping malls, each with at least 10,000 square meters of space to rent (about 108,000 square feet). Considering Nigeria’s estimated population size of about 182 million people, 18 large malls isn’t that many, relatively speaking.

Currently, sixty percent of South Africans shop in formal retail supermarkets compared to 30 percent of Kenyans, 4 percent of Ghanaians, 2 percent of Nigerians and 2 percent of Cameroonians, according to media reports.

The pent up demand for malls and modern-format supermarkets in Nigeria and in West Africa is therefore obvious.

As Nigeria’s commercial and industrial capital, Lagos is expected to lead the national count for malls over the next decade, in tandem with the city’s fast growing population, currently put at anywhere between 17 and 20 million people.

Projected to be one of the largest cities in the world by 2050, the city and suburbia of Lagos is now home to a fast growing middle class. Ultimately, their lifestyle choices will fuel the demand for modern goods and services.

Lagos is currently home to several malls. Most of these malls are however located on the coastal, more affluent sections of the state – in the Ikoyi-Victoria Island-Lekki peninsula axis – commonly referred to as the Island.

On the mainland side of Lagos are population heavy zones like Ojota, Oyingbo, Ojuelegba, Mile 2, Ikorodu and Ikeja, the state’s administrative capital which also has many residential cum commercial districts, like Agege, Ogba, Ojodu, and Maryland just to name a few.
 
An urban sprawl like Maryland, for instance, represents many things to many people.

Maryland illustrates the various realities of city life. Located right in the middle of mainland Lagos, Maryland has been a residential district and a hectic hub of activities for decades: it is also an economic and commercial nerve center; a major intersection connecting citizens and visitors alike to the major thoroughfares across the city, and a perfect exhibit of the city’s quest for affordable, urban development.

Maryland can indeed be regarded as the confluence of the city’s pain points, especially in the area of socio-economic progression and infrastructural development.

Not a few urban development experts have observed that, like so many other commercially and socially significant zones across the country, the Maryland area seems to be stuck in a time warp, as it continues to witness an ever increasing flow of human and vehicular activities, yet with almost zero upgrade to its environs in terms of accessible modern infrastructure and public services. 

All of these is however about to change, thanks to the foresight of Purple Capital Partners Limited, a specialist investment, private equity and real estate firms - which began developing an ultra-modern mall along Ikorodu Road right where the defunct Maryland Shopping Center was once located.

The Mall is therefore strategically positioned to serve citizens and visitors alike, including residents of adjoining Mende, Anthony, Ilupeju, Ojota, GRA Ikeja, Oshodi, Gbagada and all commuters along that axis.

“The construction of the new Maryland Mall began about two years,” said Laide Agboola, managing partner, Purple Capital Partners. Opening its doors to the public later this year, the Maryland Mall is expected to transform the hugely underserved retail landscape of mainland Lagos, with positive spin-offs to the economy of the state.

“Clearly, this new Maryland Mall will be an important addition to the retail, entertainment and lifestyle landscape of Lagos State,” Agboola said. The mall is currently has a diverse base of tenants, a mix of local and international brands led by Shoprite, The Place restaurant and Stanbic IBTC Bank.

When eventually the new Maryland Mall opens its doors to the public, visitors to the mall and the entire city of Lagos will also begin to enjoy a unique feature of the mall which will set it apart from any other supermarket or mall in Africa’s largest economy: it will have the largest outdoor LED screen in West Africa.

The LED screen is to be installed across the full length of the building acting as a façade facing Ikorodu Road.

This makes it a landmark building with a remarkable outdoor character and atmosphere in tandem with world renowned locations like Times Square in New York, USA and Piccadilly Circus, London, England, amongst others.

The digital advertising platform will be a first for any retail structure in Nigeria.

Beyond its appealing aesthetics and social communications functions, it simply increases the Maryland Mall’s revenue streams, further enhancing the efficiency and financial viability of the facility.

Obinna Onunkwo, managing partner, Purple Capital Partners says: “Innovation has been the key to creating this unique facility. We need more modern malls, it’s not just a matter of delivering a delightful shopping environment, it’s a social and economic development issue. We strongly believe that Maryland Mall will alter the face of retail sector in Nigeria.”