Harbor Mall- Very quiet....Can it survive?

[fforest1]

I went to Harbor mall yesterday.....You could have rolled a bowling ball from one end of the mall to the other on any floor with-out hitting any one..

The grocery store that was there is now closed along with a bunch of other shops....In the restaurant we ate at we were the only customers our entire meal.....

All the other restaurants were lucky if they had one customer...

 

Its not a bad mall but things are not looking promising....

[bkk6060]

I am surprised it has lasted this long.

The weekends have some people mostly Thais.

I would never eat there due to the low volume I would question the food freshness.

[petermik]

In a word no.....most of the Tukcom mobile shops were planning to move there in the early days...some did and soon returned.......it`s doomed Mr Mainwering it`s doomed

[toofarnorth]

9 minutes ago, petermik said:

In a word no.....most of the Tukcom mobile shops were planning to move there in the early days...some did and soon returned.......it`s doomed Mr Mainwering it`s doomed

' Quiet stupid boy '

[johng]

Don't mention the empty shops..! like I did in another thread or get an ear bashing.

 

[Dexlowe]

It should be closed and reinvented as a nightlife area along the lines of the four floors of whores in Singapore, with gogo bars and beer bars and so on. There won't be any prostitutes, of course, so it can be called four floors of no whores.

[johng]

1 minute ago, Dexlowe said:

There won't be any prostitutes, of course, so it can be called four floors of no whores. 

I doubt very much that would happen...anyway  its a good mall for the kids   and has "Snowland" "laserbattle" and "roller skating"

(errr perhaps I should say it had "these things" the last time I was there)

 

When it first opened it was very popular

 

[newnative]

       Very badly managed from Day 1.  Supposedly, it was going to be the new Tuk Com, with secondary attractions for kids, office space on the top floors, and a Max Value grocery in the basement. 

       Except, on Day 1 little or none of the office space was rented, many of the attractions for kids, such as the Ice Rink, weren't open, and the original Tuk Com didn't roll over and die--it did a bit of remodeling itself.  

      I think the idea was that the IT and grocery customers and the workers in the offices would keep the restaurants and other shops going during the slow week days when the kids were in school and the kids would keep the weekends busy when the office workers weren't there.  But, not enough IT customers went to Harbor, many continued to go to Tuk Com, and no office workers.   And, a larger grocery store next door continued to snag the grocery shoppers.

      Pity management was so short-sighted.  I would have offered a year or two free rent to get bodies into all that vacant office space, knowing it would pay off by having those same bodies eat at the restaurants downstairs and shop at the shops.  No, those workers would not have sustained the restaurants and stores on their own but every bit helps.   Instead, I think most of that office space is still sitting empty and, one by one, the restaurants and stores are closing down.  Which leads to what we have now.  A mall with no 'there' there.  And, the more deserted it is, the more deserted it becomes.

      The last time I was there with my partner was to have a printer repaired--luckily that shop was still open.   If it closes, we will have lost our only reason for going to the mall in its current state.  I hope the management is at least offering steeply reduced rent--or no rent--to hold on to the remaining stores--and thinking of ways to relaunch this sinking ship.

       

 

[johng]

Another thing that didn't help them at launch was the road (to/from Sukhumvit) being blocked while they built the underpass...then the road being dug up to bury cables underground...and no covered parking for motorbikes.

Maybe the removal of the comfy sofa areas  was a mistake too...though lots of people slept on them ????

[scubascuba3]

It should be closed and reinvented as a nightlife area along the lines of the four floors of whores in Singapore, with gogo bars and beer bars and so on. There won't be any prostitutes, of course, so it can be called four floors of no whores.

Actually an interesting idea, stop thinking outside the box.

All malls are quiet but this is probably the quietest, i only occasionally go for the Mr DIY which is keeping it alive.

Another cause is it's not the easiest to get out of turning right, usually you have to look about 10 ways on a motorbike

[johng]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Mr DIY which is keeping it alive.

Mr D.I.Y also has a branch at "The Avenue" 

[scubascuba3]

Mr D.I.Y also has a branch at "The Avenue" 

Yes that's right that's my favourite, little point in the Royal Gardens one anymore

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

So the Aeon MaxValu is closed? That's a big shame. Well, that rubs out the only reason for going to Harbor Mall. But I'm not surprised. All the times I went to the Aeon in the afternoons there were perhaps 2-3 customers, and 2-3 cashiers and a couple of other clerks in the back. The rest of the mall, of course, was empty. 

[Destiny1990]

hey-hey dont be so negative lets wait for sixpack his explanation about  how we (ffas) farang free aircon seekers have got it all wrong.

 

[JayBird]

Isn't it busy on the weekends?

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

It should be closed and reinvented as a nightlife area along the lines of the four floors of whores in Singapore, with gogo bars and beer bars and so on. There won't be any prostitutes, of course, so it can be called four floors of no whores.

You mean Singapore's 4-floors of ladyboys?

 

Mind you, that would work in Pattaya!

[geoffbezoz]

And the usual apologists will no doubt soon pipe up to claim Pattaya is not quiet. 

[Dexlowe]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

You mean Singapore's 4-floors of ladyboys?

 

Mind you, that would work in Pattaya!

I've never been to Orchard Road, so anything I know about it comes from others' observations. But you're right, it probably would work for Harbour Mall given that two-thirds of men in a recent poll said they'd either had or wanted to have a fling with a katoey. Perhaps HM's new slogan could be : "Hello sailor."

[balo]

How can you expect them to be busy after Terminal 21 was built? 

It doesn't mean Pattaya is dead, just too many malls right now. 
 

[ross163103]

My niece works for the mall and she says the owner is eventually going to turn it totally into a kids playground; can't see that big of a mall making money on that business model but good luck to him.

[legend49]

Same everywhere, business risk assessment module 101 hasnt been released in Thailand yet. In CNX we had just 2 large malls some 6 years ago. Then suddenly the building disease hits; cant count how many around now but making profit no. One was 90% completed next to Big C on the Super highway that just stopped being built 2 years ago; Promenada is about to collapse, both customer wise and building wise. Last month the huge material white sails above the walk over between the 2 buildings were ripped to shreds ( storm?), still the same last week looks really uninviting. Yet they keep opening the same types of shops and closing within a month as the mall owners want a kings ransom in rent.

[soistalker]

Several factors for the poor showing: the location sucks. You can get there easy enough, but to return, you have to walk all the way down to beach road in the sun. 

They used to have two very high quality export shops for clothes. I used to go there just for those shops. But they are long gone. They spent a ton of money to make it look like a harbour, with all the seaworthy things. Maybe they needed a renovation, but I dont think so. I think some Sonchai didnt understand that putting that kitschy stuff up wouldn't be enough to get people to go there.

They used to have a very large electronic section like Tukkcom. Those shops are all long gone. The Nike outlet has no large shoe sizes. 

Terminal 21 down the block, with the same and better food selections. Big C inside the harbour, but Big C extra is down the block, and has a much better food selection.

Did I miss anything?

[dotpoom]

Have gone in there many times and it's a sad sight indeed. for this beautiful mall....but....to be very honest....What's it got to do with me whether it survives or not?

Edited July 10, 2019 by dotpoom

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

And the usual apologists will no doubt soon pipe up to claim Pattaya is not quiet. 

No, no geoff... it's Harbour Mall that's quiet. The OP hasn't suggested anything about Pattaya.

 

56 minutes ago, soistalker said:

Several factors for the poor showing: the location sucks. You can get there easy enough, but to return, you have to walk all the way down to beach road in the sun. 

They used to have two very high quality export shops for clothes. I used to go there just for those shops. But they are long gone. They spent a ton of money to make it look like a harbour, with all the seaworthy things. Maybe they needed a renovation, but I dont think so. I think some Sonchai didnt understand that putting that kitschy stuff up wouldn't be enough to get people to go there.

They used to have a very large electronic section like Tukkcom. Those shops are all long gone. The Nike outlet has no large shoe sizes. 

Terminal 21 down the block, with the same and better food selections. Big C inside the harbour, but Big C extra is down the block, and has a much better food selection.

Did I miss anything?

Yes, why do you have to "walk all the way down to beach road in the sun." ?

[fforest1]

30 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

Have gone in there many times and it's a sad sight indeed. for this beautiful mall....but....to be very honest....What's it got to do with me whether it survives or not?

Well you go there so I guess it does have to do with you,,,,And if they go out of business I guess you will not be going there,so that also has to do with you....

[AlQaholic]

I have been there twice, but only because my kid. We only go to the playground, spend a few hours there and then leave, we don't do anything else. Both times the playground was absolutely packed with kids. I did notice how all the rest of the mall seemed completely lifeless. Now that similar playgrounds have opened in Bangkok, that takes away a lot of Bkk customers.

[patsfangr]

18 hours ago, johng said:

Mr D.I.Y also has a branch at "The Avenue" 

There's also a good D.I.Y. store in "The Chilled" mall on Khao Noi, about 3 kms east of Sukhumvit. That mall, however, is also missing the boat for overall business. It has a decent Tops market on the first floor; and the aforementioned D.I.Y. is on the second floor. But there are no good fast food shops or chain restaurants, when there is a desperate shortage of those (Carl's Jr. or Burger King, Subway, Santa Fe, Black Canyon, Fuji, etc.) on the Darkside.

They have a food court, but it's a joke. Recently, they've started clogging up the first floor with open racks of cheap clothes and other stuff that's only attractive to very low income Thais. The owners need to wake up to the fact that there are significant numbers of Farangs on the Darkside who would very much like to make use of such businesses without dealing with the ordeal of crossing the RR tracks and Sukhumvit, and getting swallowed up in the west side traffic. 

Edited July 10, 2019 by patsfangr

[bkk6060]

The location actually should be good but is not??  Near Sukhumvit, on a busy street.  Just something odd about the place.

Foodland is next door and is very popular so there are people in the area.

Just odd and eerie walking around Harbor maybe it is the lack of people I guess can't figure it out.

 

( Took a lady there once and she felt a ghost presence) ????

[johng]

11 minutes ago, patsfangr said:

There's also a good D.I.Y. store in "The Chilled" mall

I went to "The Chilled"  twice..both times  just for the MR D.I.Y store..I think that was the first one to open in the Pattaya area.

 

14 minutes ago, patsfangr said:

clogging up the first floor with open racks of cheap clothes and other stuff that's only attractive to very low income Thais

It seems to happen in most malls here..it can be annoying as they "pack em in" too tight making it look cluttered and feel claustrophobic, but at least it brings in shoppers any shopper is better than no shoppers no matter how "low income" they are.

[petemoss]

18 hours ago, johng said:

Mr D.I.Y also has a branch at "The Avenue" 

And Tukcom and Chill on Soi Khao Noi.