Bella Vista Mall feedback

GioMed

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Oct 6, 2011
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Just a couple of days ago I was chatting with someone about how I've been
looking for a commercial locale in a DR mall for the longest time, and the person
mentioned to me how Bella Vista Mall has a space available ($US800) in the
food court. I see that the Cuban sandwich shop and expensive Haagen-Dazs
have closed. Anyone visit this mall lately, especially the food court?
Thanks in advance.

The other popular malls have no openings for my type of business
 

cjp2010

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Mar 25, 2013
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I don't visit often because I don't live in StoDgo but I do get there on occasion to visit family and do some bulk shopping. I have been there a few times and have also been recently. Overall I'm not a fan of the mall except for easy access to my bank (Santa Cruz) and the coffee shop at the entrance.

I find other malls in StoDgo to be either cheaper, have more selection or be in better locations that are more convenient and with more foot traffic. We have a friend that lives very close to that mall so that is the only reason I get in there some times.
The food court in particular is not good in my opinion. It is mostly over-run by children playing and young (teen) movie-goers. If your idea for a business has anything to do with selling kids items then maybe that will be good for you but otherwise I don't think so.

I would take the recent closing of the sandwich and ice cream shops before the Christmas holiday as a sign. Those are not kid-friendly businesses. The kids go to the cheap ice cream shop and tend not to care for the sandwiches when they have pizza and burger options.

Maybe some folks who live in StoDgo can offer some ideas on better mall locations and more opinions about this mall. But the ideal mall location is going to also depend on what you are selling and who your intended audience is. There are many malls in StoDgo and several of them draw different types of people. Plaza Central is very budget-minded, Sambil is modern and has something for everybody, Blue Mall has a very nice location and Acropolis is right next to it. My wife likes Agorra (not sure why). I have never been to Galeria but I have heard it is more gringo-oriented. I believe there are a couple more big ones that I'm not remembering right now.
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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Bella Vista mall stagnated, shops started to leave and now it is hurting bad from competition. It is the neighbourhood mall for those living in the Bella Vista, Anacaona, Mirador del Sur, Cacicazgo areas. But these same consumers have cars and are commuting to the newer and better managed malls -- Agora, 360 and Sambil. The opening of nearby Unidos (hardware store + supermarket) will not help. Bella Vista still has the Nacional supermarket and the Casa Cuesta anchors, and the movie houses.

Do as recommended. Hang out at the mall and check the flow to see if it would work for you. Ask management what they will be doing to improve the mall. Bella Vista mall still is the most convenient location for many.
 

Bryanell

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Aug 9, 2005
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I get a kick out of the regulars at Bella Vista. It's very common to see a group of folks on Sundays with their own bottles of wine and glasses, having their weekly chat, while the women have their own little group chatting away while the nannys play with the kids.

What I find amazing about Bella Vista Mall is how full the parking every time I go. It can literally be packed full of cars, but yet walking around inside you begin to wonder if people are using it as a parking garage and going someplace else.

Bella Vista Mall has more bank branches and money change places per square yard than almost anywhere else I've seen. If you want to see people at the Mall go at the end or the middle of the month when folk are drawing their salaries and paying bills!! The anchor is the Nacional supermarket, it's upmarket from the Pola and the Cadena further west on Sarasota but not as upmarket as the Nacional on Lope de Vega. Have also noticed that the parking is almost always full, one of the reasons that you don't see too many people walking around inside is that most of the parkers are in the movie theatres and beauty salons. The turnover of businesses in the Food Court is fast and furious...the cheap and nasty seem to survive a little longer than the more sophisticated ones, especially now that La Cuchara Madera is out back and the Gastro Pub too, not forgetting the Santo Domingo coffee shop in the ground floor lobby. Even the Casa Cuesta which replaced the ferreteria a few years ago has been hit by Almacenes Unidos opening a few blocks to the east. Just across the street there a number of foodie places in the Bella Vista Plaza - the Body Shop Gym building...Chilis, a couple of Italian places, an organic shop and the Booost Bistro cafeteria in the gym on the 9th floor which serves good healthy food with a gourmet twist. Next door is Chef Pepper and there are a fistful of restaurants within a stone's throw on Sarasota in both directions.......you need to spend a lot of time people watching there and then decide whether the punters are your kind of market.....Always bear in mind that new restaurants are opening all the time, and most close down after a short while for one reason or another.
 

cjp2010

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Mar 25, 2013
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My daughter-in-law is staying with her cousin in StoDgo as they are going to college there and they both fit that age group. They both say Sambil is the best. For that age group I would say you would want a mall with a lot of cheap, fast food choices and Sambil certainly has that.

A lot of the relatives also really seem to like Agorra also, but I do not. I suspect Sambil might be your best choice but probably one of the most costly as well. That said, if you can sell more there it may be worth the cost. But then you may also want to prove your concept a little bit first before jumping in at the deep end.

Plaza Central may be a good option because it has a lot of cheap stores. I suspect space in there would also be cheap too but who knows if common sense applies. Most younger folks are going to look for inexpensive places. It does have a food court with cheap food choices and it does have a lot of foot traffic. But it is not a "pretty" mall.
 

GioMed

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Oct 6, 2011
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Well Sambil, Agora, Galeria 360 have no room for me, Bon, Valentino, Haagen-Dazs
already there. Bella Vista will hopefully be my way into the DR market.
 

Alltimegreat

Member
Nov 16, 2012
604
1
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Just a couple of days ago I was chatting with someone about how I've been
looking for a commercial locale in a DR mall for the longest time, and the person
mentioned to me how Bella Vista Mall has a space available ($US800) in the
food court. I see that the Cuban sandwich shop and expensive Haagen-Dazs
have closed. Anyone visit this mall lately, especially the food court?
Thanks in advance.

The other popular malls have no openings for my type of business

Quite a nice food court, despite the execution which took place there in front of the Burger King a few years ago. Taco Bell, Burger King, Pizza. The Cuban shop wasn't a bad idea, but the food just wasn't hot enough. Put a Dunkin Donuts or Wendy's in there.
 

Bryanell

Bronze
Aug 9, 2005
694
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There was an execution in front of Burger King? I know of one on the ground floor near the entrance, but not one on the second floor. When did that happen?
More than one in recent years..............
http://www.drsol.info/sportscenter/index.php?a=send&id=78568&language=de
http://dominicanwatchdog.org/page-Bella_Vista_Mall_killer_wanted_in_Spain
 
Last edited:

Alltimegreat

Member
Nov 16, 2012
604
1
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There was an execution in front of Burger King? I know of one on the ground floor near the entrance, but not one on the second floor. When did that happen?

From what I've been told, none of the murders at Bella Vista Mall involved people who didn't know the offenders. No random attacks.
 

rafael

Bronze
Jan 2, 2002
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www.dr-tourist.tv
I love bella vista mall. It is basically across the street. No shopping besides food shopping. Supermarket, banks, Claro for diligencia. Nacional has a freezer full of hagen daaz. Bought an entire rib eye fr nacional and smoked it for thanksgiving! Yummy.

There are other restaurants close by. Just for pizza, il capricio and la lasagne are good. Lacondra is very good for DR. Tratoria pizzarelli opened next door to chilis. Chef Pepper a block away etc.

Had espresso at cafe santo domingo yesterday and in 30 minutes ran into two buddies.

Not a shopping destination but we shop online any way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Alltimegreat

Member
Nov 16, 2012
604
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18
More than one in recent years..............
http://dominicanwatchdog.org/page-Bella_Vista_Mall_killer_wanted_in_Spain

There was also one about a year or two back where a man got out of his car to fatally shoot a window washer. That was a bit down the street from Bella Vista Mall.
 

Bryanell

Bronze
Aug 9, 2005
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There was also one about a year or two back where a man got out of his car to fatally shoot a window washer. That was a bit down the street from Bella Vista Mall.

It was at the traffic light at Sarasota and Jimenez Moya (a.k.a. Churchill) about 1km east of the Mall.
 

arturo

Bronze
Mar 14, 2002
1,336
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malls, Bella Vista and others

Wow, this thread is all over the place. If the original post mentioned the type of business I missed it. I think it is some sort of ice cream venture because of the references to Bon and Haagen Dazs. Ice Cream seems to be a popular product. Bella Vista Mall gets quite a lot of traffic. I agree with the posters who said the customers are mostly from the local neighborhood in recent years. That may or may not be a problem depending on the type of business. I also agree with the poster that mentioned quite a few of the mall visitors, especially during weekends, are hanging out more than buying. I noticed the rice and beans place is by far the busiest of the food court. The cinema is popular, again mostly with people from the neighborhood.

There is a glut of malls in Santo Domingo. Everytime I think it's peaked, another one breaks ground on new construction. The newest mall becomes the destination. The older malls stagnate and then begin to deteriorate. Malecon Center is probably the worst example of the phenomenon. Plaza Naco is the original. I think it has a loyal clientele because it's so hard to get out of the neighborhood during business hours. Naco's narrow and crowded streets have some of the worst traffic in the city, and that is saying a lot. Anyone remember Diamond Mall? It was a destination around 2004/2005. I think it never quite recovered from the massive propane explosion. The Arroyo Hondo/Los Rios crowd seem to gravitate toward Agora & Blue these days. The pattern seems to be build a new mall instead of maintaining or upgrading an existing mall. It's not the most economically sustainable development model, but we are not talking about Monaco or Beverly Hills, are we?

Good luck with the business.

Just a couple of days ago I was chatting with someone about how I've been
looking for a commercial locale in a DR mall for the longest time, and the person
mentioned to me how Bella Vista Mall has a space available ($US800) in the
food court. I see that the Cuban sandwich shop and expensive Haagen-Dazs
have closed. Anyone visit this mall lately, especially the food court?
Thanks in advance.

The other popular malls have no openings for my type of business
 

arturo

Bronze
Mar 14, 2002
1,336
97
48
new mall at Nu?ez & Betancourt

sarcasm alert...

...I was confused about the very busy intersection of Nu?ez/Betancourt having an entire eastbound lane blocked off by a huge construction crane's support leg. Now that I'm reminded another oversized shopping mall will be at the location, it all makes sense. The construction crane is excavating the location at the same time it is training people who drive the route to be prepared for perpetual traffic jams during the mall's opening hours...at least until it deteriorates into a pile of neglected debris like Malecon Center and Diamond Mall.

And if all those malls weren't enough, there's another one going up at Nunez and Romulo Betancourt, across the street from Orange.

Diamond Mall is just as depressing as Malecon Center.
 

GioMed

New member
Oct 6, 2011
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Certainly a lot of useful information to digest, thanks to all.
every li'l bit helps, because I'm gonna be betting the farm
on this venture.
 

GioMed

New member
Oct 6, 2011
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I hope you have a very small farm. I strongly suggest you visit every mall here that you can. We are giving you info skimmed from the top of the stack, but you really need to see for yourself.

If you are doing some sort frozen treat, electric costs will eat you alive. I would hate to see your farm consumed by an electrical outlet.

lol - It is in fact a small farm, but it's the only farm I have. Thanks for your concern, yes frozen treats are involved.
I need to get into the DR market before some big shot does, and then hopefully take it to other Latin American
countries, I've sent a scout to BVM
 

Expat13

Silver
Jun 7, 2008
3,255
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My daughter-in-law is staying with her cousin in StoDgo as they are going to college there and they both fit that age group. They both say Sambil is the best. For that age group I would say you would want a mall with a lot of cheap, fast food choices and Sambil certainly has that.

A lot of the relatives also really seem to like Agorra also, but I do not. I suspect Sambil might be your best choice but probably one of the most costly as well. That said, if you can sell more there it may be worth the cost. But then you may also want to prove your concept a little bit first before jumping in at the deep end.

Plaza Central may be a good option because it has a lot of cheap stores. I suspect space in there would also be cheap too but who knows if common sense applies. Most younger folks are going to look for inexpensive places. It does have a food court with cheap food choices and it does have a lot of foot traffic. But it is not a "pretty" mall.

Different strokes! In my opinion the Sambil is too far out of the Poligino, in the barrio areas. It couldn't even hold onto the Ihop pancake house for one year. The only business I see there is the students that go to the Cine and call centre staff from Alorica call centre behind it.