Grocery shops otherwise known as provision shops have over the years been where people go for items ranging from toothpaste to tooth picks. However it appears these old little shops are suffering the brunt of shopping malls springing up in the nation’s capital and other cities. This is because many more people prefer to go to the huge malls for various reasons including recreation and sightseeing.

A shopper told JOY BUSINESS she usually shops at the “West Hills Mall or the Accra Mall, and sometimes if I’m at Osu then I will go to the Mall there because I think their things are cheaper relative to the provision or convenience store next to my house.”

She indicated that a 500ml bottle of water for example, sells at 1 Cedi or more at the corner shop but it is sold at 70 Pesewas at the mall so unless it is an emergency she would not buy from the normal convenient store.

For some of the customers, shopping at the mall is not only about their relatively cheaper foodstuffs but the convenience it provides for shoppers. One of the shoppers corroborated that view saying, “it’s quite convenient to shop at the mall and I think most of the things there are also quite cheaper so I in most cases would just go there to pick a few things either for personal use or for friends and family.”

Elsewhere, shopping malls are the first port of call for customers – a phenomenon which is fast catching on with many city dwellers in Ghana. There are many other malls under construction in the country with the most current one being that at Achimota.

Business Manager at Silver Birds Justice Grant told JOY BUSINESS shopping malls are enjoying increased patronage currently following their slow start in the country and are fast becoming the shopping as well as tourist destination for many shoppers in the country.

For him, apart from the high quality as well as the relatively cheaper products and convenience malls offer their customers, they have simply been such a huge blessing to their communities.

He explained: “They have expanded the economy in the communities in which they are cited and are providing jobs to a lot of people. According to him, the West Hills mall for instance is “employing more than 200 people and that is without the other ancillary works like plumbing, electrical works, etc.” That he added is good for the economy of the community and the entire economy saying watching “footfall at the malls is so great especially, on weekends and holidays which go a long way to help the economy. Although it gets quite slow sometimes, sales keep increasing by the day because most of the shops are rolling out their sales promotions and engaging in a lot of marketing and other promotional activities to increase their sales so business is good.”

The malls he indicated serve as a one-stop-shop for patrons as it provided for them almost everything they need under one roof “so people are now travelling from quite a distance just to visit the malls.

But not everyone is excited about this development. While the malls are doing great business, operators of corner shops are experiencing poor sales.

A provision store operator Auntie Gladys tells JOY BUSINESS sales were good until the West Hills mall was constructed. Sales have now dropped drastically.

“Weekends and holidays were our best days but all our customers are now trooping to the malls to shop but we are managing. I was making sales to the tune of Four Thousand Cedis (GH¢4,000.00) a week but now I am able to make a maximum of One Thousand Five Hundred Cedis (GH¢1,500.00) weekly.”

Perhaps the corner grocery shops would have to re-strategize to stay in business.