Mall Entrepreneurs: We’re Already Massive Deficit Page all

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Shopping center (mall) and retail entrepreneurs admit that they are experiencing tremendous difficulties in surviving the economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Shopping Center Management Association (APPBI) Alphonzus Widjaja said the number of mall visitors had dropped drastically since March 2020, after President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced the first case of Covid-19 in Indonesia. The condition of decline has continued until now.

“The problem is, the current condition of shopping centers and retail is experiencing tremendous difficulties. So the shopping center is already in a massive deficit,” he said in a virtual press conference, Monday (28/9/2020).

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He explained, there were several things that caused the rate of mall visits to drop dramatically. Among them, the Covid-19 pandemic made the public still cautious, then because of the sharp decline in people’s purchasing power.

However, related to Jakarta, the decline in visits was also driven by the large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policy that is still being enforced by the regional government. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is still implementing a tightening of the PSBB, after previously being quite loose with the Transitional PSBB.

In Jakarta’s strict PSBB, restaurants and cafes are prohibited from providing on-site dining or dine in. According to Alphonzus, this condition is very difficult, because the main destination for people to go to malls is to restaurants and cafes.

“Then there is the factor that restaurants and cafes can’t dine in. Even though restaurants and cafes are the main destinations in shopping centers, not all products can take away and delivery,” he said.

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In fact, said Alphonzus, when the Transitional PSBB was implemented, the capacity for the allowed visits was not achieved. Now, the condition of entrepreneurs is getting squeezed even more when the PSBB is tightened again.

“When the transitional PSBB was allowed to open, we still experienced a deficit, because even 50 percent capacity was not reached, only around 30-40 percent,” he said.

As a result, he continued, many entrepreneurs food and beverage (F&B) chose to temporarily close its shop, because revenue from sales could not cover operating costs. Most of the revenue is obtained from services dine in, which currently cannot be done.

“This is quite worrying now, some of them (F&B) are forced to lay off their employees because they choose to close temporarily. This condition must be saved,” said Alphonzus.

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He considered, the government should pay attention to mall entrepreneur and retail to survive, because the economic activity in this sector is quite large. This at the same time can help encourage the economy to rise from the brink of recession.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesian Shopping Center Tenants Association (Hippindo), Budihardjo Iduansjah, added that the government’s efforts are needed to help retailers survive the pandemic. This is because if many retailers go out of business, it will be difficult for the economy to recover.

“The government and also all stakeholders need to work together to move back. If the retail closes, it will be very difficult for us to return (rise). Since March until now, it is our maximum struggle,” said Budihardjo.

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