Ineffective, I Say.

Selaku peminat setia Mines Shopping Complex, aku ingin berkongsi sedikit isu komplen kali ini. Komplen bukan pasal Mines, tapi tentang Mines 2.

Under construction

You all know or not, the existence of Mines 2? Mines 2 tu apa?

Haha.

Okay Mines 2 tu adalah satu bangunan baru yang didirikan betul2 sebelah dengan Mines lama.

It's a building consisting of 2 levels for shopping retail and the rest are for offices. And the shopping levels are mainly themed as "digital mall anda." Meaning, you will find all sorts of electronic devices especially for computers, gaming consoles, handphones and many more there.

Don't get the wrong idea. Mines 2 didn't disappoint me. Inside it, lots of those kedai are available.

BUT.

Ianya kosong. Boleh dibilang dengan jari saja bilangan pelanggan/customer/computer geek yang lalu lalang di situ.

Masa under construction. Sama saja. Tambah 3,4 orang lalu lalang.

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I feel pity to all those abang2 kedai yang tak habis2 panggil sesiapa saja yang lalu depan diorang untuk singgah kedai. Very sad and solemn place for business la right now...

That makes me think. Why such a failure?

As one kind of ardent fan of Mines, I can put forward some reasons. Firstly, Mines 2 is specified as the shopping mall just for electronic/ digital devices. There are some that differs, but only in minor numbers. So I can say it is 90% digital shops and 10% other shops la.

The problem is, there are still LOTS OF computer/electronic/gaming shops in Mines 1. It's like tidak sekefahaman. Now, put yourself in the customer's view. You want to buy a PC game. You can get it at 2 places- Mines (old) or Mines 2. Both places have the same price, so it's fair till now.

Unfortunately, you will surely enter Mines (old) and buy it from any shop there.

Why? Simple reasons. In Mines (old) there are lots of other attractions. Bowling, movies, restaurants, karaoke, clothes, KFC, McD, everything. In Mines 2, all you can see is lines of digital shops and one or two cafes. That's it.

Look grand, and happening

To put the blame on distance of walking, it really is not too much. Just 20 steps only the gap between Mines (old) and Mines 2. However, the above reason can be applied here again. People just too lazy to descend from 4th floor to the ground floor, then walk all the way to the entrance, go out and put another 20 steps just to buy one or two gadgets you can already buy it at the Mines (old).

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To put it in simpler words, fail lah Mines 2 ni. Tingkat atas2 tu memang kosong dan in the future orang akan masuk serta sewa pejabat2 sana, tapi customer2 tetap akan gunakan kedai di Mines (old) untuk beli barang2 digital.

One example. When I was a gaming nerd, I used to visit two gaming shops at the 4th floor in Mines lama. One is Fantastic Paradise, the other one I can't remember the name. Those shops were always full of people bustling in and out, surveying/buying/complaining/negotiating things there. However, one of them (Fantastic Paradise) moved out to Mines 2, leaving the other one alone there (kedai diorang dua ni sebelah2 saja). Now, that kedai tak tau nama tu is the final winner. Customer yang masuk dua kali ganda dari dulu. Fantastic Paradise? Mengira bilangan manusia yang lalu di depan gerai mereka.

If the management of Mines 2 want to rectify this, I think they should build a sky bridge connecting the Mines (old) and Mines 2. Let the customers walk from inside the building, not forcing them to naik turun tingkat then berjalan dalam panas (sikit saja, haha). Sky bridge, or walkway, or whatever you want to call it, just like the one at Melaka Mahkota Parade yang sambung dengan apa nama tah shopping complex sebelah kiri tu.

Another suggestion, relocate all the digital shops in Mines (old) into Mines 2. Make it a fair competition. Like it or not, customers have to walk into Mines 2 to search for gadgets and games. But ini macam harapan juga. Kedai2 besar macam Challenger mesti mengamuk, haha.

Whatever it is, the management should see and repair this situation. It really is a waste, because the interior design and spaces in Mines 2 really are great and spacious. It has the potential to be like Lowyatt, but with bigger space all around. Rugi lo...

I still visit the shops inside Mines 2, just jalan2 saja. And setiap kali lalu depan gerai2 tu, dapat la kedengaran ayat2 ni,

"bang, mari tengok ini henpon2 baru"

"bang cari apa bang?"

"lengchai, game baru, game baru?"

Kesian...