JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Toppen Shopping Centre is excited to welcome an extensive line-up of new tenants joining the shopping centre's flagship meeting place in Johor. Occupying over 105,000 sq ft of gross leasable area (GLA), the new brands, which include Decathlon, Lulu Grocer, and Nitori, will support Toppen's focus on creating a destination that encourages active experiences for its surrounding community.

Since its launch in 2019, Toppen has since grown to become a popular meeting place in Johor with regular community events and initiatives. With 1.2 million sq ft of GLA, Toppen houses over 300 tenants and enjoys a 92% lease rate with anchor brands such as IKEA Tebrau, TGV Cinemas, Harvey Norman, and Sports Direct.

Among the key highlight store openings is the world's largest sporting goods retailer, Decathlon. This will be the brand's first presence in South Malaysia. Targeted to open by January 2023, the 50,000 sq ft flagship format will carry Decathlon's full sporting range, inclusive of a Deca Studio which offers fitness classes instore and a 4,000 sq ft outdoor playground. This concept is an ideal match to Toppen's vision to make a healthy lifestyle more accessible for the many.

To cater to the essential needs of Tebrau's growing community of families, Toppen will also welcome Lulu Group International's first outlet in South Malaysia. The hypermarket group will be introducing a new full-fledged supermarket concept at Toppen – Lulu Grocer. Slated to be fully operational in September 2022, Lulu Grocer offers a wide range of affordable fresh food and imported products, with a strong focus on gluten-free, sugar-free, no additives, no preservatives, and other "free-from" food and beverage products to give South Malaysian customers a wide variety of better and healthier food choices. This is in line with Ikano Centres' ambition to have at least 43% of its total portfolio lease space dedicated to tenants that promote sustainable lifestyle offers.

Arnoud Bakker, Commercial Director at Ikano Centres said, "In the last three years, our teams have been working hard to strengthen our offers at Toppen to ensure that everything we introduce is relevant to our customer profile. Even throughout the challenging pandemic restrictions, we continued to invest in Toppen and we are now seeing our efforts come to life. Understanding the urgency in bringing in a relevant supermarket offer in the Tebrau area, we formed a partnership with Lulu Group International and we now have Lulu Grocer opening in the next few months. Similarly, to cater to the growing interest in fitness, we are accelerating our plans to bring in partners like Decathlon. We also see this as a great opportunity for these brands to introduce new concepts and expand their presence into South Malaysia."

"We also have an upcoming multi-storey car park that is currently in development. Targeted to open in Q2 2023, this will create additional retail and community spaces to facilitate active experiences for our visitors. We will continue to grow and evaluate the needs of our shoppers in Johor and look forward to welcoming more partners that share the same vision," added Bakker.

Another key tenant expanding into South Malaysia is Nitori, one of Japan's largest furniture and home décor companies which will complement the current home and living category in Toppen. Set to open in January 2023, Nitori has a worldwide range of lifestyle topics from home interiors to beauty finds. The brand aims to offer inspiring designs ranging from vintage to simple, natural to feminine including Japanese Modern and minimalist styles of home furniture and home decor for homes and home offices to create a stylish and contemporary space at affordable prices.   

To further encourage sports within the surrounding communities, Hoops Station, a speciality basketball store, joins the line-up of tenants expanding their presence in South Malaysia. With aims to offer authentic basketball-related products such as basketball shoes, apparel, and equipment, the 2,295 square feet outlet will be the brand's largest store in Johor carrying a wider variety and selection from existing outlets.

In another first-of-its-kind concept in South Malaysia to nurture communities, Toppen is also proud to offer Soulmates, a platform offering flexible spaces for rent to small and medium enterprises as well as budding entrepreneurs at affordable rates. A one-of-a-kind concept in South Malaysia, Soulmates is designed to be a one-stop solution for businesses wanting to experience being in a shopping centre environment.

For more information, please visit https://toppen.my/ .

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