Bella Terra Mall. Santiago.

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
Bella Terra Mall
Santiago de los Caballeros.


Initial concept:

140078rs7.jpg

140079tx4.jpg

140080ff8.jpg



Works

140081zu0.jpg

STGOCityM1.jpg

dsc03765e.jpg

dsc01320u.jpg

5572_1211991860161_1239690087_613294_7690237_n.jpg



Structure as final winning concept

img2677j.jpg

img2681o.jpg

img2878q.jpg

30262080.jpg

222783_210083765679967_201584286529915_669730_7248671_n.jpg

255674_215699431785067_201584286529915_711428_4419187_n.jpg

250595_215699455118398_201584286529915_711429_4412375_n.jpg



Stores


263944_229184677103209_201584286529915_759203_5103496_n.jpg

224974_206523229369354_201584286529915_643563_4686634_n.jpg

216528_206523249369352_201584286529915_643564_2356381_n.jpg

215231_206523276036016_201584286529915_643566_7512433_n.jpg

222218_206523296036014_201584286529915_643567_2759882_n.jpg

221642_206523309369346_201584286529915_643568_1880643_n.jpg

224985_206523329369344_201584286529915_643569_567355_n.jpg

216256_206525109369166_201584286529915_643597_652926_n.jpg

222905_206525126035831_201584286529915_643598_4735336_n.jpg

215888_206525149369162_201584286529915_643600_7020346_n.jpg

215289_206525172702493_201584286529915_643601_5356298_n.jpg

225027_206526672702343_201584286529915_643627_4760807_n.jpg

223324_206526692702341_201584286529915_643628_6124855_n.jpg

222865_206526719369005_201584286529915_643629_1646720_n.jpg

222443_206526729369004_201584286529915_643630_4714092_n.jpg

217278_206526746035669_201584286529915_643631_2584752_n.jpg

223341_206526752702335_201584286529915_643632_6565412_n.jpg

217687_206526776035666_201584286529915_643633_5053625_n.jpg

222850_206526789368998_201584286529915_643634_8350458_n.jpg

216038_206526799368997_201584286529915_643635_8175864_n.jpg

215833_206526812702329_201584286529915_643636_4514575_n.jpg

217610_206526859368991_201584286529915_643637_152290_n.jpg

222886_206526916035652_201584286529915_643638_7705429_n.jpg

218022_206528746035469_201584286529915_643648_2075916_n.jpg

218173_206528789368798_201584286529915_643650_5767818_n.jpg

224721_206529679368709_201584286529915_643660_6339110_n.jpg

216568_206529699368707_201584286529915_643661_7116051_n.jpg

217758_206529712702039_201584286529915_643662_2143966_n.jpg

225019_206529726035371_201584286529915_643663_1670850_n.jpg

218183_206529752702035_201584286529915_643664_3947211_n.jpg

218113_206530089368668_201584286529915_643665_4687579_n.jpg





296248_260891683932508_201584286529915_874880_1586967_n.jpg
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
You have a very acute problem of trying to measure what you think is biz in your country to that of the DR... Here there's no bulk foot clients, but targeted shoppers and services. Out of 100 people that visit a Mall or plaza in the DR, 75% go to buy something they'd aimed to firsthand and less than 40% would buy another article/service on the visit based on impulse buying.

In the US/UK/CA and other places I'm familiar with, over 60% of foot traffic is non-buyers and only 35% of those doing a purchase went there for that reason alone. In contrast 60% of sales are based on impulse buyers and 5% on extended services from the first sales.

This is the same "dead" as Bella Vista Mall? If it were to those that are calling it out, Bella Vista Mall would have been demolished already years ago... Strange thing is, that it continues to be on the market and is not going bankrupt like the U.S./U.K/CA malls anytime soon...

Here is a question for all of you here that "know" about biz in the DR: Tell me one plaza/mall that you "consider" to be alive based on your notion of not dead or doing good?

Just one example will suffice!
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Take some photos of all the empty stores, no people in the mall etc.
How many stores are available as opposed to have tenants?

The only time I see it with people walking around is for the movies.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Take some photos of all the empty stores, no people in the mall etc.
How many stores are available as opposed to have tenants?

The only time I see it with people walking around is for the movies.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
Take some photos of all the empty stores, no people in the mall etc.
How many stores are available as opposed to have tenants?

The only time I see it with people walking around is for the movies.

Robert, this mall is relatively very new in town. This city is not Chicago or NYC!
As far as vacancies it all has to do with who's renting/buying and who got the financial backdrop to do so under the terms the mall operates. Just like any other new plaza in the DR, the operators/owners are requiring a minimal financial safety zone for their tenants. They learned the hard way that it's best to have a tenant that can support their biz long term, than one that pays the going rate and goes south in a few months.

I ask again, are there stores open or not? If so, how you think they operate based on you opinion of a dead mall?

Just like the "dead" Blue Mall, this one is undergoing the usual expat trashing about from their external understanding of what makes a biz dead or alive.

Just out of pure curiosity, which is that last DR Mall/Plaza that shut down for being "dead" here?
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNU5T8OsJPY?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNU5T8OsJPY?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QRFmThNM0A?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QRFmThNM0A?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>

Video shot last July at the "dead" Bella Terra Mall of Santiago...

I see "Dead" people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Dead = A few people walking around, 80% of the stores available, store owners moaning no customers.

So how would you define the above?

I have been to Blue Mall maybe 25 times and have seen maybe 4-5 people actually buying something.
The only busy areas I see, are the food court, movies, sometimes the banks and Orange and Claro stores.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
Dead = A few people walking around, 80% of the stores available, store owners moaning no customers.

So how would you define the above?

I have been to Blue Mall maybe 25 times and have seen maybe 4-5 people actually buying something.
The only busy areas I see, are the food court, movies, sometimes the banks and Orange and Claro stores.

So in the entire Blue Mall only 4 to 5 people are actually buying something in all the stores... Only 20% of the stores are occupied spaces and store owners are "moaning" there are no clients???


I call an egg an egg and what you said is certainly not Kosher...

:ninja:



I'll be posting some updated videos (they seem to do a better job with expat perception of reality VS opinions) from the Malls in the DR soon in these threads. I mean the ones called "dead" and with only 4-5 clients actually buying in the entire Mall, with 80% of stores available and owners moaning that there are no clients to sell to...

The same thing I'll be doing in a thread called Dominican Middle Class, where opinions are a distant relation to reality.

And yet the Blue Mall is a project that's not even finished as of today!

23rrb6x.jpg

e3r02.jpg
 

expatsooner

Bronze
Aug 7, 2004
712
11
0
I had Dominican friends who owned businesses while I was living in the DR and in their opinions many of these "dead" malls stayed open since so much drug money was being laundered through them. When you are washing money clean customers aren't as necessary as when trying to make a straight legal profit from a store.

Of course I am not saying that every store, or even most stores, in the mall(s) are used to this end but it is a real situation in many cases, IMO.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
PICHARDO. Read what I wrote, I defined "dead" for you in relation to Terra Mall in Santiago.

Now let's move onto Blue Mall. As I have posted, I have been there 25+ times, the last time a couple of weeks ago. Plaza Central still has much more foot traffic and people actually spending than Blue Mall. Yes, I know they are different malls that cater to a different demographic, but it has movement and people spending. It's BS to come here and say Blue Mall is something it's not right now. It caters to the elite and that represents a very small demographic.

Oh yeah, for those that don't know how the DR works, that college student is not indicative of college students, 90% don't have the means to drop RD$3-5,000 on a pair of shoes.

Keeping it real....
 

RacerX

Banned
Nov 22, 2009
3,390
376
0
The place is dead, at least it was last time I walked around a few months ago.

Yep, in fact so much so that more than half those stores he posted ARE NOT there. Bro when you were here I took fotos of every floor and every wing of this mall. And apart from ground floor which faces the street it is very sparsely occupied in there. And most of the stores compete with each other, for example, in most of the wings there are spaces for 45 stores but only 3 there. And almost ALL of these are aesthetic related businesses(ie. salons, manicure/pedicure, massage parlors, etc). On the 3rd floor where there should be a bustling food court there are a smattering of places to eat most all with bored looking employees and NO customers.

The best thing about it though is since there are no people there and Wi-Fi is available it is a great air conditioned location to use the internet.
 

RacerX

Banned
Nov 22, 2009
3,390
376
0
Yup! DEAD! So dead that you can't find a store that's open for biz there... Right?

Right! There are spaces for at least 250 merchant and in a head count you cant find more than 30 in the whole place. Those you find dont do any business, unless it is like selling ONE pair of sunglasses all week. Not to mention the rear of the mall isnt even finished. The divided the floor space but didnt pave the floors in the lots in the rear on ALL floors nor wire the lots for electricity.
 

RacerX

Banned
Nov 22, 2009
3,390
376
0
You have a very acute problem of trying to measure what you think is biz in your country to that of the DR... Here there's no bulk foot clients, but targeted shoppers and services. Out of 100 people that visit a Mall or plaza in the DR, 75% go to buy something they'd aimed to firsthand and less than 40% would buy another article/service on the visit based on impulse buying.

In the US/UK/CA and other places I'm familiar with, over 60% of foot traffic is non-buyers and only 35% of those doing a purchase went there for that reason alone. In contrast 60% of sales are based on impulse buyers and 5% on extended services from the first sales.

This is the same "dead" as Bella Vista Mall? If it were to those that are calling it out, Bella Vista Mall would have been demolished already years ago... Strange thing is, that it continues to be on the market and is not going bankrupt like the U.S./U.K/CA malls anytime soon...


Here is a question for all of you here that "know" about biz in the DR: Tell me one plaza/mall that you "consider" to be alive based on your notion of not dead or doing good?

Just one example will suffice!

You re nuts! Bro! The mall was built(completed) last year so how could it have been demolished years ago? Number one: the hair salon on the mezzanine of the 2nd floor, Zardhin International hair salon is not even in business anymore. They opened up in like June 2010 and then were gone like 3 months later. Those were Dominican Americans with that concept of full service spa/hair salon. It went belly-up because there are 3 other similar type operations just on the 2nd floor run by Dominicans who had cheaper prices and more familiar techniques. Now if you go there and take pictures WHICH I DID the only proof you have that there ever was a tenant there was the Lettering on the Glass facade of the lot.

You must be in Florida right now because there is no way you can tell me with a straight face that Terra Mall is a success. The only demarcation of success for anyone affiliated with this mall is if your sole purpose was to sell bulk construction materials.

In Santiago all the malls are dead, but with respect to floor occupancy I think only Plaza Internacional is a winner in that category. Almost all of the lots are occupied but I am not sure the quantity of business they are doing.
 

RacerX

Banned
Nov 22, 2009
3,390
376
0
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNU5T8OsJPY?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hNU5T8OsJPY?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QRFmThNM0A?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QRFmThNM0A?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>

Video shot last July at the "dead" Bella Terra Mall of Santiago...

I see "Dead" people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walk out side the door to this business to the food court and you will see NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PEOPLE! I just told you man, this place is perfect to use the internet because there is ALWAYS a place to sit. In Plaza Internacional you can never find a place to sit next to electricity and use the internet. In Terra Mall, not so. Its dark and air conditioned like the BatCave so why not go there. Of course spending money there serves no purpose because there are no merchants.

Another question for you though, why is there a Burger King in the mall and another one across the street?

I dont know what post #8 was about, it sounded like gibberish to me but seriously the mall was built to show the level of contemporary engineering skills the country has while doing nothing about securing a disposable income for the general population. This mall will carry on for 10 years like Colinas Mall and then a more modern super structure will be built and it will be deja vu all over again.

THE ONLY THING MOVING PEOPLE IN TERRA MALL IS THE CINEMA WHEN IT HAS FIRST RUN 3D MOVIES, like Avatar or UP.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Too bad the photographer didn't use a wide angle lens. For every open shop 4 are empyy.

Was there last weak on a Saturday afternoon. Ghost town. We saw fewer than 10 non-employees walikng around and an empty underground parking garage.

Many stores in the photos are gone.

We went to the baby/toy store. We were the only customers among 6 employees.

Very disappointed. Nice place, though.