Retail cannibalisation is becoming a growing reality in South Africa and, until now, it has been all too easy to place the blame for this squarely at the feet of shopping centre developers.

This is a very difficult year for retailers. 

For retailers to make sales their doors need to be open for longer. That’s the word from Marius Muller, CEO of leading shopping centre investor Pareto.

Space at prime South African retail properties was made to work harder throughout 2015 and delivered real growth on an inflation adjusted basis.

His father was a carpenter, his granddad a contractor.

Like the year so far, the 2015 festive season is set to be tough and highly competitive for retailers. So says Marius Muller, CEO Pareto Limited, the country’s premier shopping centre investor and a leading retail property player with landmark assets across South Africa.

Pareto announced the established a new property management company - Mowana Properties - to manage both its own directly held property assets as well as that of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), together valued at around R30 billion.

The Pavilion shopping centre in Durban is set to get a massive R1.1 billion makeover and expansion designed to strikingly reposition the centre, significantly increasing its leisure and retail offering.

The traditional shopping centre model is turning on its head, according to indicators emerging from research covering two million square metres of retail space across South Africa.

Ongoing high municipal rate hikes are harming communities because of a lack of understanding about the far-reaching impacts of these increases reports Marius Muller, CEO of Pareto Limited.