Malls or shoplots: where do Chagee, Luckin, Mixue and Pop Mart open?

The first store usually goes into a top mall or a high-traffic spot, because the brand needs to be seen. The next wave goes into neighbourhood shoplots, because costs are lower and expansion is easier. JLL and Polygon Properties described this two-step pattern in the Nanyang Siang Pau (7 Jun 2026). For most brands that plan dozens of outlets, ground-floor street shops are the long-term answer.

These are the first sites that published reports confirm.

Chagee's APAC CMO Eugene Lee explained the logic to Marketing-Interactive: "we typically start with a flagship location so that our first batch of customers can truly appreciate what the brand stands for."

• Exposure. JLL told the Nanyang that Chagee, Luckin and Mixue first entered the strongest malls and high-traffic spots for brand exposure.
• Malls want them. The Malaysian Reserve (6 Jul 2026) reported that mall operators favour large foreign chains for their financial backing, multiple outlets, long leases and heavy fit-out.
• The numbers are large. Henry Butcher's HB Perspective 2026 counted at least 101 new brands from 12 countries that opened their first store in a Malaysian mall in 2025, a record. More than 87% opened in the Klang Valley, 50% came from China (including Hong Kong) and 55% were F&B.
• Malls are filling up. Henry Butcher reports Klang Valley mall occupancy rose from 75.8% in 2024 to 83.7% at Q3 2025.

Polygon's Jason Cho told the Nanyang that China brands are now moving into neighbourhood shoplots in large numbers, because costs are lower and expansion is easier. The same report lists what a street shop offers that a mall unit does not:

• visible street signage
• easier parking
• drive-through options
• lower operating cost
• easier delivery
• a captive residential catchment

Delivery matters more than many landlords think. ZUS Coffee had about 70% of sales from delivery and pickup (Bloomberg via The Malaysian Reserve, April 2025). A rider cannot easily park at a mall food court, but can stop outside a shoplot.

Brands that launch in Bukit Bintang often look at nearby streets too. In Changkat Bukit Bintang, the middle half of ground-floor asking rents is RM15,000 to RM30,000 a month (RM10.00 to RM13.30 psf, 11 adverts). Around KLCC, TRX and Jalan Sultan Ismail it is RM15,900 to RM48,000 (65 adverts). In the newer Pavilion Bukit Jalil and Jalil Link shoplots it is RM8,500 to RM15,000 (16 adverts). Source: MCE analysis of recent portal adverts, Nov 2026: last 6 months, shop types only, bait and duplicate adverts removed, middle half of asking prices. Compare more areas on the shop rent index.

If you own a ground floor in a busy township, you are on the second leg of this journey. The brands that tested Malaysia in malls are now looking for exactly your type of unit. Corner and front-row units with parking and a strong residential catchment are the most sought after.

Keep one caution in mind. The Nanyang warned about "rent rigidity": when high-paying tenants leave, landlords keep their high expectations and vacancies drag on. Price your unit so that the next tenant can afford it too.

Malls for the launch, shoplots for the network. A mall gives a new brand a stage. A ground-floor street shop gives most brands what they need to grow: signage on the road, parking, delivery access, longer hours and a catchment that comes back every week. That is why MCE works only with ground-floor shops and whole shoplots. We do not handle mall lots or kiosks.

Brands looking for their next outlets can see how chain brands choose a shop location and our brands by trade list. Owners can list a ground floor through the landlords page.

Written by Tok Ginstee (REN 37505), CID Realtors Sdn Bhd (E (1) 1855). Updated November 2026.