Achimota Shopping Centre opens for business
Hundreds of people yesterday trooped to the Achimota Retail Centre in Accra to witness the opening of the latest shopping centre in the city.
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Located opposite the St John’s Grammar School in Achimota, the opening day of the mall turned out to be a jamboree for hundreds of shoppers, some of whom had trooped to the centre very early in the morning to either window-shop or be among the first group of people to show up at the new shopping mall.
According to its owners, the funfair would be crowned on Sunday with a big party, besides spot prizes, giveaways and a lot of fun for families, children and shoppers over the next four days.
Roll call of shops
The $60-million investment, owned by Delico Achimota Ghana Limited, the same group that owns the West Hills Mall, has more than 45 shops and two anchor tenants—Shoprite and Palace.
The retail centre has a long chain of restaurants and eateries, including KFC, Basillisa, Food Inn, Piza Hut, Steak Escape, Roaj Restaurant, The Chop Bar and Second Cup.
A walk through the shopping centre, which sits on a total land area of 35,790m² of which 14,622m² constitutes the trading space, offers a delightful array of fashion and lifestyle boutiques, grocery and foodstuffs, electronics and telecommunication, high value jewellery, banking and financial services, beauty, as well as eateries against a backdrop of a décor that is a blend of nature and modern architecture.
The mall has a parking area with a capacity to hold 585 cars, out of which 250 constitute an undercover basement parking.
Convenience
The mall is expected to serve residents of communities, including Achimota, Taifa, Tantra Hill, Kwabenya, Parakou, Ofankor and Ashongman Estates, who the Chairman of the Delico Achimota Limited, Mr Kofi Sekyere, said “will now be able to access both basic necessities and luxuries from one location at the Achimota Retail Centre, a convenient factor which has been absent in the locality for a while.”
“Locating a modern shopping centre at the north-eastern part of Accra not only eases the pressure of congestion on the capital’s central business district, it also provides residents of this vast area with a convenient place for business, social interaction, entertainment and other basic amenities that are clearly absent in this part of Accra.”
The shopping centre’s prime location is already raising expectations among shop owners and patrons alike.
Mr Alfred Mensah, the Manager of Unique Aromas, dealers in fragrances and soaps, told the Daily Graphic that his company had great expectations.
“This is a branch of the West Hills Mall where we expect great sales. The future looks very bright and we are hoping to capitalise on the prime location to market made-in-Ghana products.”
Mr Ike Ofoe, a sales person at Xbase, dealers in shirts, shoes and other fashion accessories, observed that the opening day had been a big success.
“We expect to make good sales here to meet our monthly target. The turnout has been great and we hope this will continue in the future.”
Some of the shoppers who spoke to the Daily Graphic were full of praise for the mall’s ambiance, proximity and the convenience it had brought to them.
“This place makes life a little easy. I don’t have to drive all the way to the Accra Mall, the West Hills Mall or even Accra Central to shop or have fun. I love the serenity here too,” one shopper said.