SA opens door for Chinatowns

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DigitalSoldier

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Johannesburg - Massive Chinese shopping centres are mushrooming around the country, thanks to South African consumers’ predilection for cheap Chinese goods.

The Chinese retailers have been so successful that owners of struggling shopping centres are queuing to to fill their vacant space with so-called "Chinatowns".

As a result there is concern that the market for such centres is in danger of oversupply.

Cape Town-listed property company Redefine Properties International Limited [JSE:RIN] has established Chinatowns in two shopping centres and a third is envisaged.

In August 2009 the group developed a shopping centre for a consortium of Chinese businesspeople across from the Ottery Hypermarket in Cape Town.

The centre was designed for retailers selling mainly Chinese products, and an agreement for some 7 500m² lettable space was entered into.

Based on the centre's success the consortium has now also taken up about 6 000m² in Redefine’s Sable Square development on the doorstep of Canal Walk. Sable Square, which was originally intended to house exclusive foreign brands, was never really successful. It is now a thriving shopping centre with a Chinatown and a Pick n Pay.

Steve Kruger of the China Trust, in which the Chinese consortium is a partner, says there are plans to open a third Chinese shopping centre in Cape Town, but this is being approached with great care.

He said what makes the centre so successful is that South Africans in general are looking for value for their money. The Chinese retailers can offer this while there is an enormous selection of goods under one roof, with security.

He said the Chinese centres in Cape Town are successful specifically because there is a limited supply. Should an oversupply develop, many shopping centres with Chinese tenants could come under pressure.

In Johannesburg and environs there is a profusion of enormous Chinese shopping centres. In Crown, south of Johannesburg, there are three close to each other, with another in Ellis Park and one in Bruma.
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http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/SA-opens-door-for-Chinatowns-20110213
 
Herro prease!

Why are people buying so much cheap, Chinese plastic crap? If there was no demand for it, these shops wouldn't be everywhere. I can't believe there's such a huge demand for this kind of thing.
 
TJ99 said:
Herro prease!

Why are people buying so much cheap, Chinese plastic crap? If there was no demand for it, these shops wouldn't be everywhere. I can't believe there's such a huge demand for this kind of thing.
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It's the food that I buy.

We drive all the way to Durban North as there is a great chinese food store there. You can get amazing things for very reasonable prices.
 
TJ99 said:
Why are people buying so much cheap, Chinese plastic crap? If there was no demand for it, these shops wouldn't be everywhere. I can't believe there's such a huge demand for this kind of thing.
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It's cheap
 
This only shows how much SA is not competing internationally.

If you can import products from China, and with all that overhead, still manage to be much cheaper than the local products, that should point to some issue with our local costs.
 
Nod said:
This only shows how much SA is not competing internationally.

If you can import products from China, and with all that overhead, still manage to be much cheaper than the local products, that should point to some issue with our local costs.
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yeah... we should also let our 10 year old kids work in factories for R1 a day......
 
SinghDude said:
yeah... we should also let our 10 year old kids work in factories for R1 a day......
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I know, it is not like they are standing on street corners begging for money ... Oh wait, they are.
 
SinghDude said:
thats why we should let them go work in factories........
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No, never, at least they earn more money standing on street corners.

The point has never been to let kids work in factories, you brought that into the equation. I'm simply pointing out that kids today, are not being given any kind of support by their parents or government. They grow up, with begging being the normal way of getting food in their stomachs.

It could be said this is because their parents don't have any kind of job, or maybe they are working for their parents, who knows?

The point is, SA is not competitive enough to play in a global arena, not generally. Government is not helping to create enough jobs though ...
 
most clothes and toys are made in china, including really nice items from expensive retailers. So why do the Chinese importers only import the real cheap stuff. you go to those malls and you really have to scratch around to find anything worth buying.
 
Nod said:
No, never, at least they earn more money standing on street corners.

The point has never been to let kids work in factories, you brought that into the equation. I'm simply pointing out that kids today, are not being given any kind of support by their parents or government. They grow up, with begging being the normal way of getting food in their stomachs.

It could be said this is because their parents don't have any kind of job, or maybe they are working for their parents, who knows?

The point is, SA is not competitive enough to play in a global arena, not generally. Government is not helping to create enough jobs though ...
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How many of the kids that you see are actually doing it for food ?

Lots of them are involved in crime or drugs like sniffing glue .
 
SinghDude said:
How many of the kids that you see are actually doing it for food ?

Lots of them are involved in crime or drugs like sniffing glue .
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How would I know. I prefer to think that they would at least buy some food with that money.
They are the product of our failed society, and governments inability to spend money where it is really needed.
 
moabin said:
decent jobs vs jobs.
too much entitlement in SA
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That little word makes JZ's speech a little interesting. They would now have to define what is "decent". Just like their minimum wage, this might be just another stumbling block in the path to creating more jobs.
 
ave said:
most clothes and toys are made in china, including really nice items from expensive retailers. So why do the Chinese importers only import the real cheap stuff. you go to those malls and you really have to scratch around to find anything worth buying.
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That's what I want to know as well. Most of the European or American electronics, etc are actually made in China, and the quality is good. So they can make the good stuff. But the stuff that's actually designed and made under Chinese names is mostly complete shyte, why?
 
TJ99 said:
That's what I want to know as well. Most of the European or American electronics, etc are actually made in China, and the quality is good. So they can make the good stuff. But the stuff that's actually designed and made under Chinese names is mostly complete shyte, why?
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maybe its the skilled okes that are making the good stuff

and the 10year olds are making the cheap shyte
 
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