BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

NEWLY refurbished Terminal One at The Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong is becoming a popular place for local entrepreneurs to set up shop.

Business owners interviewed by The Brunei Times said sales are steadily improving as the wide range of products and services in the area attracts more customers.

Hartini Tahir, owner of local beauty brand De Hijrah Beauty, said as a new entrepreneur, Terminal One seemed the best place to open her first store.

“I just wanted a small space for my products, I didn’t want to rent up a whole shop unit so this is a great place for me to test the market for our products,” she said.

She said this is also a good way to promote her products to a wider audience and encourage customers to purchase products made by local entrepreneurs.

Now that the area is occupied by different businesses including fashion boutiques and a coffee shop, it is drawing in more people and her shop has caught the attention of many customers that she couldn’t access through social media.

“I felt that it’s not enough to just be present online. I wanted customers to have ready access to my products and feel them for themselves before they make a purchase and this location being in a popular commercial area is definitely helping,” she said.

Chris, proprietor of Dekraft Enterprise, said after operating online for more than two years, the vacant space in Terminal One seemed the perfect place for her to establish a physical presence.

Being in the middle of a commercial area and also in the same building as The Centrepoint Hotel, the shop has been able to attract many tourists looking for handcrafted items.

“Having a shop here has given me better access to the market. Handwoven bags are not the kind of products that (one can) sell online because people want to see the designs in person,” she said.

When she first opened the store four months ago, a lot of the spaces were still vacant and it was difficult to get any sales in the first month as not a lot of people were aware that the area had been redesigned.

Now that most of the spaces have been taken up by various businesses and with most of them having a presence on social media where they promote their shop in Terminal One, it is becoming a more attractive place to shop.

“With more businesses opening here, the place has become livelier. Customers benefit by getting more options and we also get more customers, better exposure and higher sales,” she said.

Aysha Ismail of Elegant House said setting up a shop at Terminal One is part of her expansion plan as she already has a boutique at The Mall, Gadong.

She believes the place will flourish due to the strategic location as well as the owner’s strategy of making it into a high quality shopping area.

“I was told by my husband when it first opened, I went there and saw something different about Terminal One. So far, it has helped boost Elegant House’s branding in the market,” she said.

The Brunei Times