The China Mall experience

People come to China Mall from as far as Botshabelo, East London, Cape Town and even Mozambique, says Keyser. If you want to buy in bulk, this is the perfect place to be. Small business owners can buy wholesale items at a fraction of the stated price, which she says they call the stock price. This price is offered to wholesalers who buy six or more of a type of product for their stores. This is what she believes makes China Mall stand out from other South African malls.

China Mall in Amalgam is a 100 000m² piece of land with an outdoor parking space that caters for 3000 vehicles. The shopping complex building takes up 40 000m² and is divided into four conjoined sections that are two storeys high. The different parts are marked alphabetically, showing the order in which they were built.

The first visible section when driving in is clearly marked C. Section A, which is the oldest, is on the far left. On the far right, close to the newly developed block D, but separate from the main mall, there is a sign that reads: “Food Court”. There are roughly eight Chinese restaurants, offering both halaal and non-halaal meals.

Red and gold Chinese lanterns hang from the ceilings, matching the main colour scheme of the China Mall trademark. With about 50 stores at the bottom and additional stalls in the walkway, there are too many options to go through in one afternoon.

Keyser says the rent charges are dependent on the positioning of the store in the mall. If the store is closer to the front entrance, the rent will be more expensive than that for a store at the back of the mall. The leases are offered on a one to 10-year period.

The stalls in the walkways are referred to as “yellow line stores”. Yellow lines are drawn to demarcate the space within which the owner of the stall can trade. If they trade beyond the yellow line they are in violation of their lease agreement, Keyser explains.