1 Utama

1 Utama or One Utama[1] is a shopping mall in Bandar Utama, Selangor, Malaysia, with an area of 5,590,000 square feet (519,000 m2) and containing 713 stores. It is the largest shopping mall in Malaysia and the seventh-largest shopping mall in the world.[2] The first phase of the mall, now known as the "Old Wing", was opened in September 1995. With the increase in customer traffic and demand for retail spaces inside the mall, a second phase called "New Wing" was added in 2003.  

1 Utama
1 Utama New Wing
Alternative namesOne Utama, 1U, OU[1]
General information
StatusComplete
TypeShopping mall
Architectural styleContemporary
LocationBandar Utama
Address1, Lebuh Bandar Utama
Town or cityPetaling Jaya
Country Malaysia
Coordinates3°08′53.34″N 101°36′57.03″E
Current tenantsAEON, Jaya Grocer, Parkson, Isetan,[2] TGV Cinemas, GSC Cinemas[1]
OpenedSeptember 1995 (1995-09)[2]
RenovatedJune 2011 (2011-06)[3]
CostRM 89 million[3]
Renovation costRM 160 million[3]
OwnerBandar Utama City Centre
Technical details
Size5,590,000 sq ft (519,000 m2)
Floor count11[4]
Floor area2,190,000 sq ft (203,000 m2)
Design and construction
DeveloperSee Hoy Chan Holdings
Awards and prizesEdgeProp Malaysia's Best Managed Property Awards 2019
Designations Gold
Known forAbove 10 years retail category
Other information
Number of stores713
Number of anchors4[2]
Parking14,000
Website
www.1utama.com.my
References
[5]

An additional expansion of 592,015 square feet (55,000.0 m2) was added in 2018 with the addition of 1 Utama E. Today the mall houses multiple retail areas, restaurants, cafes, sports facilities, a rainforest, and a bus station with national and international services. Current anchor tenants of the mall include; AEON, Jaya Grocer, Parkson, and Isetan. The mall formerly housed the first IKEA store in Malaysia in 1996. The mall has received several awards including Gold in EdgeProp Malaysia's Best Managed Property Awards 2019 (retail category)[5] and the Platinum Award for Shopping Complex of the Year in the Retail World Excellence Awards 2006/07 edition,[6] and honored by CNN in 2014 as the fourth best shopping cities in the world.[7]

History
First phase or Old Wing section of the mall

In the 1990s, See Hoy Chan Holdings Group started developing a new town known as Bandar Utama that consists of residential and commercial area. Hence during the development of this town, there was a need for a mall in this township. The developer looked for inspiration for such a mall in the United States in 1993 before designing the first phase of the mall which is known as Old Wing today. As the developer believed that the mall should come with anchor tenants, the developer signed an agreement with AEON Corporation to open Jusco (currently rebranded as AEON) as the main tenant in the mall.[2] Before opening of the mall, some customers were concerned that the ramp leading to the parking lot on the seventh floor was too steep, while others said that the incline was normal for malls in other countries, so it was not a big concern.[8]

The mall was officially opened in September 1995 and all the premises were fully rented by various tenants.[2] The cost of the construction of the first phase of the mall costed RM89 million.[3] The first IKEA store in Malaysia opened on April 25, 1996[9] in One Utama mall to overwhelmingly good reception of customers during the first few days of the opening. At the time, most of the IKEA products were made in Malaysia including dining tables, chairs, coffee tables, venetian blinds, cutting boards, toys and bed frames.[10] The IKEA store covered 7,431 square metres (79,990 sq ft) of space inside the mall.[11] Due to the increased demand of IKEA products, the store was relocated to Mutiara Damansara on August 14, 2003 which was bigger than the previous store and also becoming the largest IKEA store in Asia-Pacific during that time[12] until it was surpassed by another store in Gwangmyeong, South Korea in 2014.[13]

A covered bridge linking between Old Wing and New Wing were opened during mall soft opening on December 13, 2003

As the mall experienced unprecedented growth which resulted in increased demand for retail spaces, the director of See Hoy Chan Holdings Group, Teo Chiang Kok, considered expanding the mall by building the second phase which is known as New Wing in order to further accommodate the increasing numbers of customers and retail lots which would cost RM300 million and increased the retail lot from 220 units[14] to 600 units. The two blocks are now connected by a covered pedestrian bridge.[15] The new section also includes an aviary, a zoo, a diving pool and a climbing wall. The mall soft-opened on December 13, 2003,[14] with the grand opening taking place on April 2, 2004 by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. The owner and management of this mall was transferred to Bandar Utama City Centre.[15]

The first renovation of the first phase (or Old Wing) took place in June 2011, 16 years after it opened, and costed RM160 million. The renovation included a relocation of Jusco supermarket (currently rebranded as AEON) to the new area, additions of cinema screens, and a new link to the 1 First Avenue office building.[3] An additional expansion of 592,015 square feet (55,000.0 m2) inside the mall included the third phase (known as 1 Utama E) which was constructed and opened on January 24, 2018.[16] It features a surfing pool, a skydiving wind tunnel and several restaurants and cafes which aim to make the mall a multi-sport and entertainment venue alongside shopping. The mall will also bring 500 more parking bays as well as providing pedestrian access to Bandar Utama MRT station. The development of this phase costs RM150 million.[17]

Features
Rainforest in 1 Utama

1 Utama contains 203,000 square metres (2,190,000 sq ft) of retail space. Its 713 stores appeal to all economic strata,[5] from department stores such as AEON, Parkson and Isetan,[2] to high-end international chains and multiple restaurants such as Food Republic food court, Din Tai Fung, KFC, McDonald's, Texas Chicken and Carl's Jr. and two cinema chains, TGV Cinemas and GSC Cinemas.[1] This mall previously housed the first IKEA store in Malaysia,[12] Cold Storage[18] and MPH bookstore.[19] Aside retail, 1 Utama offers sport amenities to the public including a bowling alley,[20] baseball pitch,[21] climbing wall,[22] surfing pool and skydiving wind tunnel.[23] The rainforest inside the mall was grown on October 25, 2003 by extracting a Tabebuia rosea tree from the nearby forest carried into the mall then planted along with 200 other species such as Alocasia, wild banana, Johanesteijsmannia, Aglaonema and Phyllagathis to make the forest look more realistic. The rainforest opened to the public in November 2003.[24] As of 2019, the mall attracts more than 33 million visitors annually,[5] with peak traffic occurring during the holiday season.[25]

1 Utama bus stop

The mall is connected to several major roads including Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong[26] and Lebuh Bandar Utama.[5] In addition to providing 14,000 parking bays for cars, the mall also provides bicycle parking.[27] The car park is also equipped with electric vehicle charging points.[28] The mall is accessible via public transport, including MRT via Bandar Utama MRT station[29] or via buses from RapidKL bus service. 1 Utama also serves as a bus station for multiple bus services such as Aeroline, First Coach, Genting Express and the 1 Utama shuttle bus service that transports passengers to other major cities in Malaysia including Penang and Genting Highlands, and Singapore.[30]

Incidents

Fires

There were two fires that broke out in the mall. The first fire was on February 25, 2013 which started in a storage facility in the children's playground equipment store which caused the whole building to experience a power outage.[31] The second fire occurred on July 11, 2014 when the fire broke out from the kitchen of one of the restaurants. Both fires were minor, and no casualties were reported.[32]

Crime

In response to the abduction of Canny Ong in a shopping center in Bangsar which led to her death on June 13, 2003,[33] many shopping malls in Klang Valley strengthened their security in order to protect their customers, including One Utama shopping mall where the management deployed additional policemen, guard dogs and security guards to patrol the mall.[34] Despite this, there were several false alarms when some customers reported to police that their cars were stolen, when in fact the customers forgot where they had parked their cars.[35] During Chinese New Year in 2014, a robber stole jewellery worth RM10 million in one of the jewellery shops. The heist was planned by a Latin American gang in advance before executing the robbery, including hiding inside the mall as it closes, cutting off electricity, disabling the burglar alarm system, stole CCTV recording units and melting safe doors using an oxy acetylene torch.[36] One of the shoppers illegally parked on the roadside near the shopping mall and was issued a fine by police on February 28, 2018.[37] Other parking violations includes parking space hogging, an illegal car parking space reservation where a person would stand on an empty parking space, waiting for the driver to come. These incidents were frequently reported by other drivers as “stealing the parking bays from customers”.[38]

References
  1. Kaur, Kirat (2019-10-24). "1U vs OU: How did 1 Utama shopping centre get its name?". The Rakyat Post. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  2. Yee Hoong, Chai (2017-11-04). "Keeping up with changing trends". The Edge. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  3. "1 Utama RM160mil makeover, more cinemas and Jusco Supermarket to relocate". NBC Business News & Tax. 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  4. "Shop". 1 Utama. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  5. Ng, Shawn (2019-04-26). "A mall that embraces change for growth". The Edge. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  6. Jayaraj, Jayagandi (2006-04-10). "1 Utama is best shopping complex". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  7. Kim, Violet (2014-02-19). "12 best shopping cities in the world". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  8. Mustaffa, Sonja (1995-07-10). "Flaw in ramp at new Bandar Utama mall". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  9. ""Open house" at furniture store". New Straits Times. 1996-04-25. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  10. "Draw of the woody and natural at new store". New Straits Times. 1996-05-09. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  11. Johari, Juneita (1996-02-10). "Ikea way to your dream home". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  12. Tahir, Sabry (2003-08-15). "IKEA to invest RM120m in centre". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  13. Lee, Joyce; Yang, Kahyun (2014-12-18). "The Biggest IKEA Store In The World Just Opened In South Korea". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  14. Ang, Elaine (2003-12-22). "Shoppers' haven at 1 Utama". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  15. "RM300mil expansion gives 1 Utama total of 600 retail outlets". The Star. 2004-04-03. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  16. "1 Utama opens phase one of 1 Utama E". The Edge Markets. 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  17. Khoo, Natalie (2018-01-25). "1 Utama opens phase one of 1 Utama E". The Edge. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  18. Ganesan, Vasantha (2019-09-05). "Will Giant store closures hit EPF's investments?". The Edge. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  19. "MPH Bookstore in 1 Utama closes down after 15 years". The Edge. 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  20. "Rolling time for media, athletes". The Star. 2005-08-01. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  21. Michael, Stuart (2006-04-26). "Baseball treat for members of media". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  22. Siok Hui, Leong (2005-12-24). "A work of art". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  23. Tey, Kelly (2018-01-27). "Go surfing and skydiving at 1Utama". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  24. Ng, F. S. P. (April 2015). "Tropical rain forest in a shopping mall" (PDF). Utar Agriculture Science Journal. 1 (2): 57–62. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  25. Jayaraj, Jayagandi (2010-12-18). "Festive shoppers causing traffic congestion at all hours". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  26. Yunus, Akil (2014-07-11). "Fire in 1 Utama food court, causes morning crawl along LDP". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  27. Sia, Andrew (2016-09-07). "Solving the problem of bicycle parking". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  28. Lim, Ruby (2016-12-24). "Charge your electric vehicle without hassle". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  29. Khoo, Natalie (2018-02-01). "BU MRT pedestrian link to 1 Utama opens today". The Edge. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  30. Chan, Jade (2007-12-31). "A convenient stop for everyone". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  31. Lainey (2019-02-25). "One Utama Fire Started From Storage Room". hype.my. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  32. Adriana (2014-07-11). "UPDATE: Fire At One Utama Shopping Mall". hype.my. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  33. Mohamed Radhi, Nor Ain (2020-07-27). "#NST175 Nation horrified by Canny Ong's rape-murder". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  34. Zainal, Hanis; De Silva, Joash Ee (2016-09-26). "Better mall security since Canny Ong murder case". The Star. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  35. "People's own carelessness a major factor". The Star. 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  36. Mei Chu, Mei (2014-02-04). "Jewellery Store In One Utama Robbed Of RM10 Million During CNY Holidays". Says.my. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  37. Ruxyn, Tang (2018-02-28). "1 Utama Responds To Man Who Complained His Car Got Clamped By Polis Bantuan". Says.my. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  38. "Woman 'chups' parking spot at PJ shopping mall by standing on it; netizens fume". New Straits Times. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
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