A video tour of the construction of the extension of Savannah Mall. This video reflects the first part which will open in June 2010.

Savannah Mall in Polokwane, which was the single largest development in Polokwane at its launch 13 years ago – is undergoing massive extension and renovation.

This will increase the existing 22,000sqm retail space by another 15,000sqm after a significant investment of R350 million by the owners, Pietersburg Property Development (Pty) Ltd. It is leased by Broll Retail and the principal architect for the project is Tjaart van der Walt from LVDW Architects Inc.

Scheduled to open at the end of October 2010 - in time for the busy festive season – Savannah is strongly established and well supported by local shoppers.
George Heyneke, Senior Asset Manager Pietersburg Property Development, is confident that the new Savannah Mall will offer even more for every shopper.

In a first for Polokwane, Savannah Mall will feature the city’s first Dis-Chem, providing shoppers with an extensive array of health, beauty and pharmaceutical products.

“This popular store will no doubt be a major draw card for the centre, and complement and enhance the overall retail offering of Savannah Mall,” says Lizelle Cloete, Broll Retail Leasing Executive.

Two top retail outlets favoured by consumers in other regions will debut in Polokwane, They are Baby City and Toys R Us, which will be joining the Savannah Mall retail mix. Toys R Us Savannah Mall will be the only store this respected retailer has in Limpopo. Together this exceptional mix will specifically bring a wide range of baby goods and toys, and ultimately offer consumers a wealth of choice.

All four major banks - Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa and FNB - are represented in Savannah Mall and will boast expanded branches as a result of the extension, with each one literally doubling in size. In addition, a new stand-alone KFC Drive Thru will provide convenience for the many shoppers and residents in and around the centre.

Savannah Mall’s expansion will also accommodate national fashion retailers that are expanding and adding new ranges. One of these is the introduction of a Truworths Emporium, which will also feature this national retailer’s Identity brand, a strong favourite with fashion conscious shoppers. Foschini is also expanding in size and adding a Markhams and Donna Claire to the tenant mix.

“A number of new local tenants debuting in Polokwane for the first time have already committed their new space requirements, confirming the excellent value proposition that Savannah Mall offers in the retail space,” says Cloete.

A multi-disciplinary property services company with nearly 35 years in the property industry, Broll has negotiated the leases for the Savannah Mall extension, bringing a new sense of energy and vitality to the centre and ensuring its tenant mix remains relevant and appealing to today’s Polokwane consumer.

The company has an impressive list of clients including the properties South Africa’s leading property owners such as Retail Africa, Pareto, Atterbury Property, Growthpoint Properties Limited, Sasol Pension Fund, Resilient Property Income Fund and Keystone Investments. Landmark properties under management across South Africa include Southgate Mall, Cresta Shopping Centre and Northgate Mall in Joburg, Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein, and The Grove in Pretoria.
As in the case of Savannah Mall, Broll’s retail consulting services include identifying critical-success-factors for centre refurbishments and redevelopments and performing retail trend analyses. This division is headed up by Hilton Dukes, Broll Director Retail.

“The additional space being introduced at Savannah Mall offers retailer's superb opportunities. Ideally located in the heart of the community, with a strong, loyal shopper base, strong local retail representation and excellent trading densities, the new look centre ably meets all prospective retailers’ requirements. To date, we’ve had a good response from potential new tenants, and anticipate this will increase as the project nears completion,” says Lizelle Cloete.

Savannah Mall’s new extension includes a triple-volume centre court area, with access from the new roof parking, basement parking and other levels. Ideal for promotions and displays, the spacious centre court will also feature an information kiosk. With clean lines and offering good functionality, the space will act as an excellent draw card. Two new glass lifts and six new escalators will also link access for the three levels around the centre court and provide for optimal traffic flow.

Across the newly enlarged centre, shoppers can expect to see larger shop fronts, lifted to an impressive 3,35 metre high. This provides retailers with more display space.
Leon Jacobs, design architect from Leon Jacobs Architects for Savannah Mall says, “The newly extended part of the mall will feature finishes that are simple, yet strikingly effective. The centre will be brighter, with special light fittings used in the new extension and later being introduced across the entire building.”

Attention to detail has been key to the project with every individual element given complete attention. This will be reflected in everything from the modern, wooden benches and clear, visible directional signage.

Tiles in the new section will be bolder, yet flow well with tiles used in the original building and these have been specifically selected for their semi-polished qualities, which work well in an area where excessive mine dust can create slippery surfaces. Furthermore, walk-off carpeting at the access points to the mall, provides an anti-dust action.

The combination of all these factors – an already
successful shopping centre, an owner with a long-term vision, keen retailer demand, a dynamic leasing strategy, and a bright contemporary design – point to an exciting future for Savannah Mall which is as inspiring and rich as its wonderful history.

Karen Botha is the Group Marketing Manager of three shopping malls including Savannah Mall in Polokwane. She is also an ordained minister of religion, a food auditor and has a diploma in slimming and sports injuries.

Karen was born in the Cape and went to school in George, Phalaborwa and Mokopane (Potgietersrus).
It is in Mokopane that she met her husband Rick, better known as dr Rick of the Lof en Aanbiddingsentrum in Polokwane. They have two sons: Ruan, a freelance video cameraman who do work for TV stations like Animal Planet and Juan, a financial consultant in Polokwane and a professional drummer who is also the drummer at Lof en Aanbiddingsentrum.

But how does a minister end up as the marketing manager of a shopping centre in Polokwane? One of Karen's subjects when she was studying religion was marketing, and it was this encounter with the subject that made her decide that marketing would become her first love.

In Polokwane she started the Madame et Monsieur franchise for which she did a diploma in slimming and sports injuries. Later she also started Pro Events!, an event organising company. She then got an opportunity to become the manager of Ster Kinekor in Savannah Mall but in June 2009 she was offered the job of marketing manager of Savannah Mall.

She is now the group marketing manager of the company and manages the marketing of Savannah Mall in Polokwane, Victorian Mall in Newcastle and Protea Gardens Mall in Soweto.

What is her motto in life? "What I do I must do successful, because my name is involved" she says without hesitation. And since she took over the marketing responsibility the foot count in Savannah Mall has increased every month.

What are her personal traits? She considers herself a good and loyal friend with a sense of humour who is afraid of growing old. "When I'm 80, I want people to think I am 50, not because of what I look like, but of how I act" She still sees herself as 28 years old. She suffers from acrophobia, the fear of heights. That however did not restrain her from a stint as a trapeze artist, although it lasted only a few minutes.

This happened a few years back when the family attended a circus show. At one stage, the trapeze artists wanted a member of the audience to participate in their act and the spotlight fell on Karen. She says although she looked away it did not help and she became part of a throw and catch scene with two trapeze artists. They then let her fall on the net below and that was it. Did she scream? No. Was she afraid? "No I wasn't afraid, I was dead!" she says.

Karen is also a qualified food auditor who did the required diploma and audited food manufacturing plants. She can audit the manufacturing of any food and worked in this capacity for Granor Passi Polokwane for four years. But marketing remains her first love.

Her job as marketing manager of Savannah Mall will just become bigger as the mall will increase to 55 000m² when the extensions are finished in October 2010.

Savannah Mall is the only shopping centre North of Pretoria that has a gift voucher card rather that paper gift vouchers. The card can be bought as a gift and can be used at different shops in Savannah Mall by merely swiping it the same as a credit card at every outlet. The gift card programme is administered by Standard Bank.

Karen is very proud of what Savannah Mall will have to offer after the extensions are finalised.
Shops that will then be housed in Savannah include:
Dischem
Baby City
MTN
Markhams
Daniel Hechter
Uzzi
Identity
Tekkie Town
Donna Claire
African Bank
Natal Wholesale Jewellers
More restaurants and
a KFC Drive-Thru.

All the existing banks will move to the banking hall in the new extension, Woolworths will become bigger, the existing Savannah Pharmacy will increase in size, Clicks will get an in-store pharmacy, the number of parking spaces will increase from the present 800 to 2500 and the bottom entrance (entrance 3) will become the main entrance.

Savannah Mall will also repeat the motor show that started this year and will include super cars and super bikes in 2010, the art and flower show will become annual events and a health day will be held every three months.

Karen wants Savannah Mall to be a place where people can feel at home and want to return to, a safe shopping centre where people need not feel threatened, an ultimate shopping destination and a community mall that serves the people of Polokwane.

That is why her door is always open for members of the public to air their views or make suggestions to enhance their shopping experience.

Karen Botha is indeed a woman of many talents and a responsible marketing manager that wants her shopping centre to be an asset to the community.

Building progress on the Savannah Mall extension is right on schedule, says Savannah Mall Polokwane Marketing Manager, Karen Botha.

The target date for opening remains 28 October 2010.

The section that has progressed the furthest is the parking as well as the banking hall which tenants will occupy in July 2010. Construction on the upper level will then continue.

Botha says the construction teams are working 7 days a week which is why they remain on schedule. To ensure that there is the least possible inconvenience for the public, the construction teams usually start working at 05:00.

The main contractors are Davies Civils, Stabilid and ROC as well as seven sub contractors with their teams.

Photos provided by Savannah Mall, Polokwane