[nono1973]

Originally Posted by localbest

One example is harbourbay mall.. Now becomes a dead mall with less than 40% of the shops are open and the rest are vacant. Fixtures and fittings in the mall were run down, the bridge connecting it to the ferry terminal was also leaking water..

Another few more obvious example will be Carnaval Mall at Batam center and Centrepoint beside Formosa Hotel. Carnaval Mall was supposingly their IT Mall. Their ending today,only 1 or maybe 2 shops left opening thru out the whole mall and as for Centerpoint,i guess i dont have to elaborate more.

The whole of Carnaval mall look so new....yet they were so deserted. And Harbour Bay Mall is slowly moving towards that direction.

Originally Posted by localbest

Unlike a few years ago about year 2010 when it was just newly built, during the time when wavemaster ticket office was in one of the shop, we could see huge customer crowd in the mall.

There used to be Carrefour in Harbour Bay Mall too but today..well.

Originally Posted by localbest

Harbourbay mall can hardly revive to its old days due to the following reasons:

Not counting they have the smallest theater in Batam for such a big mall,hehehe...w/o the Blitz theater,the mall will be long gone (or dead,hehehe...).

Originally Posted by localbest

1) Wavemaster ferry ticket office is no longer there, that took away some of the customers to the mall.

A grave result of trying to monopolizing the whole ferry terminal. W/o competition,there wont be consistent improvement. With lesser ferries disembarking in Harbour Bay,the lesser the number of tourists coming over. Just compare it with how over-crowded Batam Center ferry terminal is.

Originally Posted by localbest

2) The trade mix of harbourbay mall did not have much variety type and lack of advertising and promotion activity held in the mall.

Agreed with you on varieties but they do advertise and i see their advertisement everytime i took the Horizon ferry to Harbour Bay,and asking people to buy the properties around that area. And according to records,not all their housing properties were sold off even after they have finish building for a few years. I heard from the locals that the price of the property there has came down,lower than the 1st initial start up pricing.

(i am just hearsaying from taxi drivers around that area)

Originally Posted by localbest

3) Location was not ideal as it is located at the far north eastern part of Nagoya so the type of customer will be limited to majority tourists only sporean/malaysian who will need to go to the harbourbay ferry terminal next to it. On the other hand, Nagoya Hill Shopping centre is a very successful mall as the general public and even tourist will patronise the mall due to its wide variety of trade and its ideal location

Honestly speaking,i think Harbour Bay area is a good location and there is a chance that they can beat Nagoya Hill area. Its just that they choose to kill all the goose that lay golden eggs to have all its eggs rather than patiently wait for those gooses to lay it day by day. They increase the pricing of properties and the rental in the area before they even stabilize all the basic amenities and infrastructure in that area.

1. 1st they need the human crowd. But they choose to cut away the other ferry competitors to monopolize the area. (Batamfast only have 4 timing to Harbour Bay)

2. 2nd,they may have some human crowd coming from Horizon ferries,but they couldnt retain that crowd. We can all ask ourselves,how many of us actually hang around Harbour Bay after we drop off from ferry? Most travel via Harbour bay becos it is fast enough and less crowded,not becos there is a mall or there is anything really good to see/stay around there.

3. 3rd,look at the restaurant around. They opens mostly at night,so that means people only likely comes by when sunset. But when sunset,most shops in the mall would already be closed.

4. 4th,lets not forget when we step out of Harbour Bay,coming back in means we have to go thru the Car Park Gantry,which can at times be a hindrance. And psychologically to many tourist,it signifies going back home,hehehe...and who wants to get that 'going back home' feel in the middle of their holiday?

5. 5th and the gravest of it all,Harbour Bay ferry terminal and Harbour Bay mall area has all the expensive overpriced things. Few simplest example,exchange rate conversion,cigarettes,tourist buy-home items/gifts? And what does that kind of impression gives you?

To me,its a chop carrot place that could likely be worse than Nagoya Hill Mall. I use 'apple' as an illustration here,name me any "apple" in Harbour Bay area that one can buy but yet i cannot get it at a lower price in Nagoya/BCS area (except of course the monopolized Horizon ferry ticket).

I see none.

Originally Posted by localbest

4) There are wear and tear and lack of maintenance in the building.

Yes,lots of wear and tear there. In general,it is still a functional building.

Originally Posted by localbest

5) The walkway from the bridge to the mall are dark and long (poor design)

The good i see on that bridge (which is often ponding with some water during a rainy season) is i can get over from Harbour Bay ferry terminal w/o getting caugh in the rain. There are quite a few dark corners after one crossed the bridge and its especially dark in the evening. If i wear dark colored clothings and stand there at night,i can well be hidden from all naked eyes,hehehe...

Originally Posted by localbest

6) The air-con was also not fully in operation ..quite warm.

There's one thing i dont understand about Batam's shopping mall. I wonder if anyone notice that most shopping mall in Batam actually shuts down their aircon after about 8pm? (or was it 830pm?) I mean there are still quite many shoppers in the mall. I guess they are trying to chase the shoppers out?

Originally Posted by localbest

7) The toilets were dirty and rundown and in need of a refurbishment or upgrading.

Not so sure about it being rundown,but i am surprise the ferry terminal's toilet is cleaner than the one in the mall.