China mall closed for Black Friday
Disappointed shoppers were turned away at the China Mall in Springfield Park, which remained closed on Thursday following the fire that gutted 40% of the mall on Wednesday.
The mall was gutted in the early hours of Wednesday, just a day before the annual Black Friday sale marking the start of the festive season shopping period.
Late Wednesday, fire officers and forensic investigators were combing through the smouldering ruins looking for clues on the cause of the blaze.
On Thursday, the mall remained closed as, according to the security guards, the insurance company was still assessing the damage.
While the majority of the shops in the front of the mall were not affected by the blaze, they still couldn’t operate as the entire mall was closed due to the investigations. While standing outside the premises, The Witness observed scores of customers and vehicles being turned away yesterday.
One man, who had walked a long distance in the heat to reach the mall was sweating and out of breath.
His disappointment was palpable when he was told the mall was closed. Another woman, who was there to pick up her flower order, was gobsmacked to learn of the fire.
She was worried that she had lost her money, as she had already paid for her order. One of the shop owners, Muhammed Imtiaz, said there had been no formal communication from the mall’s management regarding the closure and the cause of the fire.
Luckily we could salvage most of our merchandise and we have been redirecting our customers to our Windermere branch
Imtiaz said he had been operating his curtain business at the China Mall since 2011 and this was the second time that the shop was affected.
“During the April 2022 floods, we lost a lot of merchandise and our furniture was destroyed.”
He said although the business had another branch, they would not be able to recover the profits they had expected to gain from the Black Friday sale and the festive season.
“Since there is no official statement from the mall, we don’t know how long it will be shut down,” he added. Attempts to speak with management of the China Mall were unsuccessful.
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