Aeon 2.0 set for capital's north side

Fri, 7 August 2015 ppp

Daniel de Carteret

An artist's rendition shows a new Aeon mall project planned for Phnom Penh's north side. The mall, larger than it's predecessor, will go after an even more upscale consumer. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Japanese retail giant Aeon officially unveiled plans on Friday for its second mall in Phnom Penh.

To be completed by the middle of 2018, Aeon’s new mall will be located inside Pong Peay City, a residential and shopping estate project located in the city's north side currently being developed by prominent tycoon and ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat.

With about 151,000 square meters of floor space, the new mall will be larger than the 108,000 square meters of Aeon’s current mall, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary and boasts international clothing brands such as Levis, Mango, Clarks and Puma.

The new complex will target Cambodia’s higher-end consumer, but will also continue to cater to everyday shoppers, with a variety of international clothing and food and beverage brands, Aeon officials said on Friday.

Pointing to the IMF’s 7 per cent GDP growth forecast for the year, Aeon Asia managing director Washizawa Shinobu said his firm was confident Cambodia’s emerging middle class would make their newest mall a success, aiming to attract 10 million visitors in its first year.

"I am sure Cambodian people will be richer with economic growth like that, which means they will buy more products,” he said.

Aeon’s existing $205 million mall received close to 15 million visitors in its first year of operation, although officials declined to reveal sales figure on Friday.

They also declined to disclose the investment amount slated for the new project.