MAYA mall opening today!

[tangcoral]

I'm not so sure who was behind the decision to install automated bidets on every floor, but they do have a nice massage feature.

[Gnasher328]

Well I will not be going back to Central F.

First time I was turned back from the bike park and directed to the 'big bike park' (CRF 250). A couple more times that was fine then a jobsworth security guard kicked up as it was under 500cc. I have no intention of going round in circles so they can stuff it - back to KSK.

[NancyL]

I conferred with some of my lady friends about the automated bidets and we predict they'll be disconnected within two weeks. Maybe the Japanese ladies know how these fancy Japanese toilets work, but my friends just started pushing buttons at random and ended up spraying water all over themselves, their handbags, the floor, etc. We finally decided the safest strategy was to push the single big button on the wall behind the toilet and, guess what, the darn thing simply flushed.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Americans .... yeesh! (Actually, I was with some Aussie ladies too. They were just as clueless.) The cleaning staff will probably disconnect the fancy toilets after a week of cleaning up the floors after every toilet geyser from the bidet.

As for us "mapping" out the mall.. yes it is in our DNA. It goes back to caveman times. Remember, we used to be hunter/gatherers. You guys were the hunters, which means you're really good at sitting around in a group, waiting for something to cross your path, not really saying much to each other. We ladies, though, were the gatherers, which meant we had to walk around the area near our dwelling, looking at the plants, figuring out which were edible, gathering them, and remembering the location of those that would be ready to eat in the future so we could come back at the appropriate time to gather them. In other words, I don't need athletic shoes today, but I probably will in the future and now I know where to get them! And, oh yeah, it's in our DNA to share information with other women about where the really good plants are located. That's why we talk about shopping nowadays.

Edited January 23, 2014 by NancyL

[falangadang]

Crazy, one or more of the three have to fail, Promenada, Central Festival or Maya, there isn't enough customers nor money,

How do you know this? The mall investors likely did their research, along with expected increase in population and wealth over the coming 5 years. Not saying they can't be wrong, but they likely gave it more thought than the average Thaivisa pundit.

Also, competition is good. If two of them prove to be much better than the others then it's just fine if the lesser ones don't make it.

Excluding KSK for now (as it doesn't really compete unless work is done on it), that means four proper malls in the Chiang Mai area. (And pretty much the whole of Northern Thailand). Wikipedia has the population of the Chiang Mai Metropolitan Area (which includes Lamphun) at a million people. Plus tourists. Plus that also for people in, say, Lampang it's an hour and a half to drive over and go shopping.

Four malls does not seem completely unreasonable. Sure, maybe one of them doesn't make it, or shifts focus away from a general mall. That's okay. Maybe the other two new ones only turn a profit in 10 years. That's probably okay too.

Well we would think that the mall investors did their homework prior but hey,.. this is Thailand and they seem to put up constructions and start businesses here just because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

You can see this from the myriad of small malls and street front rows of shops. No thought into traffic exits, parking, traffic flow, street visibility.. I could go on and on but needless to say this is the reason we see so many vacancies. Add to that the plethora of empty condos in BKK alone and yet they're still putting up more.

As for the current mall scenario in CM. We live here and think its great. 10 years ago when I first came to live here you could always get a car park at Airport Plaza.even on busy days there was always a ton of parking in the outdoor carpark. Added to that there were a lot of vacant shops on the 4th floor, Then about 5 years ago it really started to change with no parking and all shops occupied. The last few years it was hell to try there on Fathers Day, Mother's day etc... just a stay away zone.

We expected when Promenada opened in July that it would take the heat off but it didn't,.. mainly because Promenada was a bit of a disappointment then (opened prematurely) but now its looking good and a really nice mall to visit.

The big difference was when Festival opened. Now we really notice the difference in lower crowds to Airport Plaza (which is still great) but Festival has to get the award of #1 CM Mall IMHO. Shopping great, entertainment and food - great, parking -AWESOME! and the access is good and location first class. Clearly some thought went into that one and we noticed on opening day how at least 95% of stores were open and well ready for business.

Not sure how Maya will go,... it seems a bit close to KSK,.. maybe will steal some traffic from there.

Bottom line: with the massive influx of new residents to CM (just look at how many new estates have gone up in the last 5 to 10 years) I think that the shopping malls might be a little on the oversupply at present but the local market will soon expand into it.

[LazyYogi]

I'll give it some time for them to finish setting everything up and then go back.

As others have pointed out, maybe 70% of the shops were open. I actually think it was less than that, at lest when I was there at 11am.

Also, many that were open are just operating in a temporary set up in front of a fake wall, so it's a bit difficult to judge how much will be on offer once everything is in place.

The Starbucks near the main entrance on the 1st floor looked seriously cramped. It's maybe a quarter of the size of the one at Festival.

Noticed there's a Doi Chaang coffee on one of the other floors, but they weren't open for business yet.

I didn't notice any good bookshops, which would be a draw for me.

It's nice to have a cinema in walking distance from my apartment. Hoping they get a good variety of films.

Also, as someone else mentioned, there's a lot of space wasted on super high-end shops that are nice to look at, but I can't see attracting many paying customers.

[jackr]

Looks alright from the outside. Now all they need to do is turn that brown monstrosity down the road into a car park.

[Oscar2]

I don't see the opening of all these malls (Maya, Promenade, Central...) ending well...

We went to Dukes last Saturday night at Promenade - Dukes was full but the rest of the mall was a ghost town...

that was what the wife and i observed at Promenada 2 weeks ago. Dukes was doing quite well in the late afternoon - about 12 or more people dining (all Thai) while every other restaurant had zero customers. no exaggeration...zero. the Thai restaurant in front of Rimping had mountains of food sitting in trays which obviously means it had been sitting out all day long. probably best to avoid that place even though they had some interesting and unusual dishes, unless you go in the morning.

[Oscar2]

Crazy, one or more of the three have to fail, Promenada, Central Festival or Maya, there isn't enough customers nor money, let's not even begin to discuss Airport Mall and Kad Suan Kow..

it's totally crazy for a small city like this. OTT! not nearly enough customers or money to justify so many shopping centers. i've already stated which of them i think will be the first to fail. but this new one doesn't seem very promising either. we went to Doi Pui the other day and driving past the Rincon? intersection it seems the only way to get in is to drive up Huay Kaew and make a U turn, come back and turn left into the parking structure. its almost impossible to drive up HK these days at any time of the day before the shopping center. how many people will be stuck in the intersection to queue up to make the u-turn? i think most will give up. its only a shopping center....many others easier to access. walking in? forget it! Thais hate to walk. chok dee.

Small city???

this is a very small city, yes. where are you from?

[jackr]

Remember, we used to be hunter/gatherers. You guys were the hunters, which means you're really good at sitting around in a group, waiting for something to cross your path, not really saying much to each other.

Aye, and not much has changed, substitute cave for bar... you know the rest

[Oscar2]

In Kad Suan Kaew yesterday and like a ghost mall. Very few people and the usual stalls in the central floor areas were absent -just open space.

And it just looks very old, tired and tatty.

Demolition and change of use for my money, and not too long from now.

rubbish. i'm there at least 3 times a week on business and i've known a number of sellers there for close to 10 years. they told me that business has not fallen off one bit at all with the opening of all the malls. ghost mall? it has been absolutely packed each time i have been there over the last several weeks.

demolition? it is a very profitable venture. nothing wrong with it. its a shopping center.

[skills32]

Crazy, one or more of the three have to fail, Promenada, Central Festival or Maya, there isn't enough customers nor money,

How do you know this? The mall investors likely did their research, along with expected increase in population and wealth over the coming 5 years. Not saying they can't be wrong, but they likely gave it more thought than the average Thaivisa pundit.

Also, competition is good. If two of them prove to be much better than the others then it's just fine if the lesser ones don't make it.

Excluding KSK for now (as it doesn't really compete unless work is done on it), that means four proper malls in the Chiang Mai area. (And pretty much the whole of Northern Thailand). Wikipedia has the population of the Chiang Mai Metropolitan Area (which includes Lamphun) at a million people. Plus tourists. Plus that also for people in, say, Lampang it's an hour and a half to drive over and go shopping.

Four malls does not seem completely unreasonable. Sure, maybe one of them doesn't make it, or shifts focus away from a general mall. That's okay. Maybe the other two new ones only turn a profit in 10 years. That's probably okay too.

Winnie the main reason they are being built now is that it is cheaper to build now than say 5-8 years time when they will be needed, plus the fact any bugbears can be sorted out and the money coming in now is just pure cream.

It is the result of forward planning.

[northernjohn]

Crazy, one or more of the three have to fail, Promenada, Central Festival or Maya, there isn't enough customers nor money,

How do you know this? The mall investors likely did their research, along with expected increase in population and wealth over the coming 5 years. Not saying they can't be wrong, but they likely gave it more thought than the average Thaivisa pundit.

Also, competition is good. If two of them prove to be much better than the others then it's just fine if the lesser ones don't make it.

Excluding KSK for now (as it doesn't really compete unless work is done on it), that means four proper malls in the Chiang Mai area. (And pretty much the whole of Northern Thailand). Wikipedia has the population of the Chiang Mai Metropolitan Area (which includes Lamphun) at a million people. Plus tourists. Plus that also for people in, say, Lampang it's an hour and a half to drive over and go shopping.

Four malls does not seem completely unreasonable. Sure, maybe one of them doesn't make it, or shifts focus away from a general mall. That's okay. Maybe the other two new ones only turn a profit in 10 years. That's probably okay too.

Have to agree with you. These are not small time noodle shops. The people behind them have done their research. Promenada will take a while but there is lots of people living there in that area and it is a growing area. It will take time. Some of the shoppers at the Festival will lose the attraction of the new mall and just go to Promenada. Maya well ..................................................... access to mall could play a part in it. KSG I have never seen it overflowing with customers in going on 4 years now.

Yes the Festival does have some different and some up grade shops but they will not be attracting the people all the time and they will just start to go to the closest one for their every day needs. How ever I do like the Tops food floor there at the festival. I believe it has a better selection of cheeses.

Would be nice if the Maya offered a different selection of movies. It is owned by the same group[ as the one at the Promenada and even at that you can see some of the movies in the airport or Festival malls.

Edited January 23, 2014 by northernjohn

[northernjohn]

If they have KFC, I will go.

Enjoying KFC at Festival, but 3x a week I am at the Maya area.

Where is the KFC at Festival, please?

On the right at the front entrance.

The tables overlook the front entrance and m/c park.

Great people watching seats, and an upsized zinger burger meal great value at 104bht.

For desert you can go right next door and have some ice cream at stone cold. Hope I got the name right. It is high priced but some pretty awesome concoctions there.

[northernjohn]

For the first time, we can go shopping, take in a movie, etc. without taking the car or spending time trying to find parking. We live about 300 meters away from Maya in Mooban Nantawan. Going food shopping, arranging for delivery and walking home in ten minutes. What a pleasure! Did anyone see the new Rimping Supermarket?

You might be disappointed.

The Rimping which is not open yet is in a small space on the 4th floor. My guess is that it's a glorified and overpriced mini mart.

What a hassle to get your groceries back out to the street or to a vehicle in the garage.

Huh? I was there 30 minutes ago, the Rim Ping supermarket is on the bottom floor, and it opened exactly at 4PM. It's not as large as a couple of other Rim Ping stores in the area but I wouldn't call it a "mini." About the same size as the one at Promenada?

I wandered through the entire place and only saw a few spaces that weren't opened as yet. I would note that the roof garden place isn't open and access (the escalators) to that area is blocked off.

The roof garden was accessible this morning 10am-1pm albeit the escalators were not running people still trekked it up.

They probably closed off the area as I saw workers doing some work during the afternoon as it was definitely not completed.

You get a nice panoramic view of doi suthep mountain, but it wasn't high enough to get any breath-taking views (6th floor)

I posted some pictures of the roof garden on page 1 of this thread.

Have they made allowances for a coffee shop up there?

[FiftyTwo]

If they have KFC, I will go.

Enjoying KFC at Festival, but 3x a week I am at the Maya area.

Where is the KFC at Festival, please?

On the right at the front entrance.

The tables overlook the front entrance and m/c park.

Great people watching seats, and an upsized zinger burger meal great value at 104bht.

For desert you can go right next door and have some ice cream at stone cold. Hope I got the name right. It is high priced but some pretty awesome concoctions there.

KFC do a perfectly acceptable soft cone for 10bht.

Not that I could eat one after an upsized zinger meal.

Edited January 23, 2014 by FiftyTwo

[tilac2]

KFC do a perfectly acceptable soft cone for 10bht.

Not that I could eat one after an upsized zinger meal.

Enough with this KFC thing already! Next thing you'll be telling us their entire menu and posting photos of their gloopy food.

[Torrens54]

We were invited to the opening of the new RIMPING Supermarket there but had previously arranged to pick up some overseas visitors at the Airport this afternoon, so we might have a look on Friday.

Reckon all these new malls might also ease the parking congestion @ Airport Plaza....fingers crossed!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ Yes, or just reduce traffic at Airport Plaza intersection. I noticed that ever since Festival opened.

[puukao]

There are too many people!!! I need everyone gone, NOW!!!! Why can't I have my bike ride without tons of traffic???

Fast-forward to when there no people. Where are the people?? I need people NOW!!!! I am bored with no people.

I will find the balance.......

[lachiplo]

new mall, nice. are there any nice stuff coming up, like shake shack or something

[MESmith]

I understand there are open air restaurants, pubs and cafes on the roof garden. I wonder if they will play loud music into the early hours, keeping the neighbours up all night.

You'd better order a powerful searchlight

[krabbyken]

Rimping to be open 6 a.m. - midnight according to Maya promotional brochure!

[Oscar2]

Rimping to be open 6 a.m. - midnight according to Maya promotional brochure!

what 6:00 a.m.? have to see it to believe it. the cashier girls were all moaning and bitching like crazy when they changed meechok branch from 9:30 to 8:30 opening time. even now most of them are late in arriving. young Thais do not like getting up early even if they are being paid to do so!

[chiang mai]

6:00am, never happen and if it did, why.

[beau thai]

In Kad Suan Kaew yesterday and like a ghost mall. Very few people and the usual stalls in the central floor areas were absent -just open space.

And it just looks very old, tired and tatty.

Demolition and change of use for my money, and not too long from now.

rubbish. i'm there at least 3 times a week on business and i've known a number of sellers there for close to 10 years. they told me that business has not fallen off one bit at all with the opening of all the malls. ghost mall? it has been absolutely packed each time i have been there over the last several weeks.

demolition? it is a very profitable venture. nothing wrong with it. its a shopping center.

Rubbish?? I was there for 2 hours yesterday (unfortunately) with some out of towners, going in way too many shops. I tell you what I saw-very very few people.

KSK 'absolutely packed??- now that's rubbish!! But if you want to listen to traders whistling in the dark - up to you. In your many visits on business each week you havent seen all the empty floor space that was always occupied??

Spend an hour in Central Festival, then spend and hour (outside of 12-2 maybe), in KSK. And if you still feel so bullish. rent some space-they will be happy to take your money.

It'll be gone inside 24 months......

[Oscar2]

In Kad Suan Kaew yesterday and like a ghost mall. Very few people and the usual stalls in the central floor areas were absent -just open space.

And it just looks very old, tired and tatty.

Demolition and change of use for my money, and not too long from now.

rubbish. i'm there at least 3 times a week on business and i've known a number of sellers there for close to 10 years. they told me that business has not fallen off one bit at all with the opening of all the malls. ghost mall? it has been absolutely packed each time i have been there over the last several weeks.

demolition? it is a very profitable venture. nothing wrong with it. its a shopping center.

Rubbish?? I was there for 2 hours yesterday (unfortunately) with some out of towners, going in way too many shops. I tell you what I saw-very very few people.

KSK 'absolutely packed??- now that's rubbish!! But if you want to listen to traders whistling in the dark - up to you. In your many visits on business each week you havent seen all the empty floor space that was always occupied??

Spend an hour in Central Festival, then spend and hour (outside of 12-2 maybe), in KSK. And if you still feel so bullish. rent some space-they will be happy to take your money.

It'll be gone inside 24 months......

rubbish.

[hml367]

If KSK were to be "closed", it may make it easier to improve Huay Keaw Road and its traffic. That could also help the traffic caused by Maya.

[FiftyTwo]

Went to Maya this morning, small, nothing much special, doubt I will go again.

Their KFC was small, dingy and no views out.

Rimping opened 11am, same as the of the place.

Central Festival wins on every front.

Edited January 24, 2014 by FiftyTwo

[heybruce]

Went to Maya this morning, small, nothing much special, doubt I will go again.

Their KFC was small, dingy and no views out.

Rimping opened 11am, same as the of the place.

Central Festival wins on every front.

Does this mean Maya won't be the next big thing in shopping centers and make the Rincome intersection even worse? Imagine my disappointment!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Went to Maya this morning, small, nothing much special, doubt I will go again.

Their KFC was small, dingy and no views out.

Rimping opened 11am, same as the of the place.

Oh.. Rimping Promenada opens at 8am.. Super easy to park right at the door at that time, and you pretty much have the store to yourself.

Bliss.