1 Utama

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1 Utama

1 Utama Shopping Mall
Location	Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Opening date	1995
Developer	Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn Bhd
Owner	Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn Bhd
No. of stores and services	700+
No. of anchor tenants	3
Total retail floor area	465,000 m²
No. of floors	6

1 Utama Shopping Centre is situated in Bandar Utama Damansara, a township in the northern part of Petaling Jaya, Selangor and is also located just opposite the Taman Tun Dr Ismail township in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Its gross built-up area totals 5,000,000 square feet (465,000 m²).^[1] It is the largest shopping mall in Malaysia and the fourth largest in the world.^[2]

Development

1 Utama is developed over two phases. Phase 1 (commonly known as Old Wing) of the shopping mall was completed and opened to public in August 1995. The owner of the shopping mall, Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn Bhd decided to contract the management of the shopping mall to ÆON Co. (M) Berhad for 15 years until August 2010. ÆON operates its department store and supermarket as its anchor tenant in Phase 1.

Phase 2 (commonly known as New Wing) was completed and opened to public in December 2003. Unlike Phase 1, Bandar Utama City Centre manages this new extension, resulting in the entire shopping mall being managed separately with Parkson department store and Giant Hypermarket as anchor tenants. However, in 2008, GCH Retail (M) Sdn Bhd closed the Giant Hypermarket and opened a Cold Storage supermarket outlet instead.

Following the expiration of the management contract of Phase 1 ^[3], Bandar Utama City Centre took over the management of Phase 1 from ÆON and has been managing the entire mall since August 2010. In 2011, Phase 1 underwent a massive renovation and refurbishment exercise which also sees the expansion of floor space to increase retail space. The renovation also sees the reopening of ÆON department store and supermarket on August 22, 2011 and the opening of Isetan department store on April 6, 2012.

Retail Zones & Tenants

Phase 1

• Centre Court
  • For family fun, Centre Court offers a variety of retail shops know for its simple charm and ambience.
  • Features anchor tenants ÆON department store and supermarket as well as Isetan department store.
  • A 12-screen TGV Cinemas is expected to open in mid-2012.
  • Notable tenants include Uniqlo, Puma, Levi's, Morgan de Toi, Bershka, Esprit, Padini Authentics, Hush Puppies, Giordano, Nichii, Levi's, Dockers, Toys 'R' Us and Popular Bookstore.
  • F&B outlets include C.i. Express, The Coffee and Spice Company, Pizza Milano, Vietnam House, Starbucks and Chatime.

• Promenade
  • A mix of many F&B and other retail outlets as well as a lakeside section at the outdoors.
  • Includes the skybridge and tunnel links across Lebuh Bandar Utama between Phase 1 and Phase 2.
  • Features a Food Street section with many food kiosks at the Lower Ground floor.
  • F&B outlets include McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Sakae Sushi, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Hokkaido Ichiba, Dave Deli's, The Chicken Rice Shop, Pappa Rich, Wong Kok Char Chan Teng and many more.
  • Other notable tenants include SenQ and Home Fix D.I.Y..

Phase 2

• Highstreet
  • Opens up endless style opportunities with its fine selection of fashion labels.
  • Includes anchor tenant Parkson department store and Cold Storage supermarket as well as Tangs department store.
  • Fashion tenants include Coach, British India, Bebe, Michael Kors, Armani Exchange, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Charles & Keith, Tommy Hilfiger, Raoul, Zara, French Connection, Massimo Dutti, Nine West, Guy Laroche, Nautica, Guess, Gap, Lacoste, Brooks Brothers, Oroton, Topshop, Top Man, Dorothy Perkins, Quiksilver, Pull and Bear, Forever 21, Springfield, Cotton On, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Nike, Adidas.

• • Other tenants include MPH Bookstore, Live It Up! and Best.

• Oval
  • Featuring a unique oval-shaped atrium, the Oval takes pride in being one of the largest promotional spaces to be offered in a Malaysian shopping mall, providing complete flexibility for a variety of events. It hosts fashion shows, celebrity meet the fans sessions, promotions and events for major festive seasons such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Christmas as well as product promotions and roadshows.
  • Among notable tenants located around the Oval are Padini Concept Store and Marks and Spencer.

• Rainforest
  • A specially conceived area that features koi ponds, suspension bridge and lush foliage, right at the heart of the mall.
  • Features mainly F&B outlets including the Food Republic food court, Nando's, Watami, Starbucks, BBQ Plaza, Kim Gary, Chatterbox, Fish & Co. and many more.

• Entertainment Zone
  • Dedicated to movie buffs, gamers and karaoke enthusiasts.
  • Features a 13-screen GSC, CrossFire arcade and Neway karaoke centre.

• Sports Zone
  • Features 36-lane bowling centre U-Bowl, popular gym Celebrity Fitness, Asia's largest indoor rock climbing Camp5, It's a Hit! batting cages and Padang futsal courts.^[4]

Visitors

1 Utama receives roughly 60,000 to 90,000 visitors every weekday, and as many as 120,000 on weekends according to the management. Its occupancy rate is 98%.^[5] This is higher than Centrepoint^{[disambiguation needed ]}, a competing mall in the same township (although it is nowhere near the size of 1 Utama). Further away (less than 2 km), in the adjacent township, are malls such as The Curve, Ikea, e@Curve with a 10 screens under Cathay Cineplex and Ikano.

Bus hub

The Bandar Utama bus hub is also located in the vicinity of 1 Utama. It offers bus rides to Genting Highlands.

Naming confusion

There is a great deal of dispute over whether the name of the mall is "One Utama" or "1 Utama". A recent press release by the management (Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn. Bhd.) states that the official name is 1 Utama Shopping Centre and not "One Utama" or "1-Utama". This move was meant to limit the confusion of its name, although either one of the mentioned names are easily understood and cannot be confused because of their same meaning.

1 Utama is also popularly known as "One (1) U".

Awards

1 Utama was named "Shopping Complex of the Year" at the Retail World Excellence Awards 2006/07. As of 2006, a 20-storey corporate office tower (occupied by IBM and KPMG) has been completed and a 428-room 5-star hotel attached to the mall is planned to open the following year.^[6]

There exists a free shuttle service from several areas such as the Kelana Jaya LRT station and Sunrise Mont Kiara to increase accessibility. Apart from that, the 1 Utama has recently introduced a new shuttle service to and from Cyberjaya. However, this shuttle service is not free and costs RM3.00 per trip (coupons need to be purchased at 1 Utama's Customer Information Counter).

Notes and references

1. ^ "About us". 1 Utama official site. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. http://www.1utama.com.my/AboutUs.aspx. Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
2. ^ Emporis: 1 Utama Shopping Centre
3. ^ "Aeon capitalises on regional expansion for ongoing growth". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/01/02/aeon-capitalises-on-regional-expansion-for-ongoing-growth/. Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
4. ^ "Directory". 1 Utama official site. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. http://www.1utama.com.my/Directory.aspx. Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
5. ^ Gomez, Jennifer (May 11, 2006). "Many firsts for 1Utama", p. 22. The Sun (Malaysia).
6. ^ Yap, Kenny (Mar. 20, 2006). "1 Utama wins platinum award", p. 21. The Sun (Malaysia).

External links

• 1 Utama Website

Coordinates: 3°08′53.34″N 101°36′57.03″E / 3.14815°N 101.6158417°E / 3.14815; 101.6158417