The Jasons Food Hall at Bangsar shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur is set to be replaced by a new concept from the country’s fast-growing independent grocery retail group The Food Purveyor.
Geoff King, The Food Purveyor’s CEO, told Inside Retail Asia that his company hopes to take over the fixtures and the store space before the Jasons lease expires on March 22, “but that depends on landlord consent and the cooperation of the previous tenant”.
“We hope to be up and trading before the 23rd,” he confirmed.
The Food Purveyor owns the supermarket chain BIG (Big Independent Grocer) which recently opened new outlets at the Toppen Centre in Tebrau, Johor Bahru, and at the Mall of Medini.
As Inside Retail Asia reported last week, Jason’s will close its only store in Malaysia after 20 years. A spokesperson for the store’s parent, Dairy Farm International’s Malaysian joint-venture subsidiary Giant, said it had failed to renegotiate a lease on satisfactory terms and was closing Jasons Food Hall at Bangsar with regrets.
“After months of negotiations, we are very disappointed that we have been unable to come to a mutual and workable agreement with the landlord to renew the lease,” a Giant spokesperson said in an email.
King says a final decision has not been made on the brand the new store will trade under, but it will be a premium offer in keeping with the suburb’s demographic, which includes a large expat population.
“The store range and prices will belong to the BIG format but we will be adding some extra touches and features befitting the location and likely launch with a unique name,” he said.