Ikano Centres to Launch New Drive-thru Concept in Penang

Well-known F&B brand, McDonald’s adds to the growing IKEA Batu Kawan retail destination.

kano Centres, part of IKEA I Southeast Asia, is set to launch a new drive-thru concept next to IKEA Batu Kawan Penang. Focusing on food and beverage (F&B), the drive-thru will be the natural next phase in the development of its meeting place that embraces the new age of convenience and grab-to-go concept.

The drive-thru component which will be fully operational by mid-2021, will complement the current dine-in IKEA restaurant and F&B tenants. The latest addition will see more great food options across the 200,744 square feet gross leasable area.

“Malaysians have a great love for food and appreciate convenience,” said Christian Roejkjaer, Managing Director of IKEA Southeast Asia & Mexico. “For many, drive-thrus have become a quintessential part of their lifestyle and may play a crucial role in our ‘new normal’. Building our first drive-thru concept in Batu Kawan is one way for us to create a safe and positive space for the community to come out and enjoy their favourite food.”

IKEA Southeast Asia’s Shopping Centre and Mixed-Use Director, Christian Olofsson added, “We look forward to welcoming more partners that share the same community-spirit, to further build a retail destination that Malaysians and tourists will want to visit.”

“About 97 per cent of our retail space was leased out in the first phase and that has motivated us to continue developing and creating spaces for more global and local businesses to grow with us,” he said.

McDonald’s restaurant will take up 35,000 square feet space at Batu Kawan and it will be Penang’s 16th freestanding McDonald’s Malaysia outlet.

According to Azmir Jaafar, Managing Director and Local Operating Partner of McDonald’s Malaysia, this outlet will reflect the iconic fun, bright and comfortable atmosphere that most Malaysians have come to love.

“We continue to cater to changing trends among customers who are increasingly seeking convenience, as well as fast and friendly service to complement their on-the-go lifestyles. We are excited to expand our drivethru footprint to Batu Kawan, where customers can now enjoy ‘feel-goodmoments’ just by conveniently driving by and ordering their favourite meals from a McDonald’s restaurant window,” said Azmir.

Ikano Centres is in dialogue with petrol station operators to meet the high demand within the growing township of Aspen Vision City in Batu Kawan.

The latest anchored-by-IKEA commercial development is a jointventure between IKEA Southeast Asia and Malaysia’s Aspen Group to develop Aspen Vision City, transforming Batu Kawan into an iconic hub in the Northern region of Malaysia.

“Batu Kawan’s development has been tremendously progressing towards becoming the third satellite city of Penang. We are elated to welcome another well-known international brand, McDonald’s to Aspen Vision City’s (AVC) neighbourhood. As a globally famous quick-service restaurant chain, their presence in AVC will surely be a crowdpuller, which also caters to a workforce of about 16,000 at the Batu Kawan Industrial Park.

“Earlier this year, we also saw students joining the newly launched The Ship Campus as well as the University of Wollongong KDU Batu Kawan Campus. Other projects to be completed are Vertu Resort, Vivo Executive Apartment and Viluxe with 3,132 units of residential units which will add traction to AVC,” said Dato’ Murly Manokharan, President & Group CEO of Aspen Group.

Within the region, IKEA Southeast Asia owns and operates five shopping centres anchored by IKEA.