THE intensifying competition within the burgeoning retail property market will see more malls and shopping outlets diversifying their product offerings as they try to stay competitive and fight for survival.

Malaysian Association for Shopping and High-Rise Complex Management past president Richard Chan says the food and beverage (F&B) segment, which tends to be one of the more resilient sectors during an economic slowdown, has been seeing steady growth in occupancy levels over the years.

“Ten to 15 years ago, F&B used to take up between 8% and 12% of a mall. Today, it can range anywhere between 30% and 40%,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Commenting on the performance of the retail sector so far his year, Chan says that the F&B segment has “generally performed well”.

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