Property

The shopping centre with more stores than any other mall in South Africa

Bianke Neethling • 10 September 2026

Despite its smaller size, Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria boasts more stores than the largest mall in South Africa, Fourways Mall.

With 330 stores across the mega-mall’s 177,000 m² gross lettable area, Menlyn has the most stores in the country, despite only being the second-largest.

Construction of Menlyn Park Shopping Centre began in 1979, and it has since been expanded four times: in 1988, 1998, 2000, and 2016.

It was originally developed by Old Mutual Properties and was intended to serve the growing eastern suburbs of Pretoria.

This neighbourhood, and the mall’s footfall, continued to grow, and in 1988, BILD Architects undertook Menlyn’s first major expansion to accommodate the increased traffic.

A decade later, the mall partnered with US design firm Development Design Group for another facelift.

These renovations added signature entertainment features, including a NuMetro cinema complex and the mall’s iconic rooftop drive-in cinema.

Another renovation came in 2000, when Menlyn undertook an R800 million redevelopment to expand its floor space to 118,000 m² and 300 stores.

This redesign was awarded the International Council of Shopping Centres’ Global Award for the redevelopment of a shopping centre.

According to Leading Architecture & Design, this refurbishment was considered ground-breaking and became a benchmark by which many malls set their standards.

“Its lack of theming, a large tensile tent structure and the use of billboards inside and outside were among its innovations, as was its vibrant colour scheme and patterning,” the publication said.

However, this would not be Menlyn’s most significant redevelopment. That moniker goes to its 2016 expansion.

Between 2014 and 2016, Menlyn underwent an ambitious, R2.5 billion, two-phase overhaul under property investment firm Pareto.

This overhaul expanded Menlyn to 177,000 m² by converting old event arenas into a food court, adding a dedicated fashion wing, and expanding access to anchor grocery tenants.

Pareto linked Menlyn’s new and old retail spaces, adding its “Central Park” area, which is an open-air rooftop green space.

This redesign briefly made Menlyn the largest mall in South Africa and on the continent.

Today, the ‘largest mall in Africa’ moniker belongs to Fourways Mall, which boasts a GLA of 178,000 m². However, it has 325 stores, compared to Menlyn’s 330.

Menlyn’s 330 stores consist of well-known anchor tenants such as Checkers Hyper, Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Game, and Food Lover’s Market.

It also has multiple apparel retailers, including Forever New, Foschini, Mango, Miladys, Steve Madden, Sissy Boy, Old School, Bogart Man, Fabiani, and Markham.

The mall’s food and restaurant offerings are expansive, comprising names such as Burger King, Chicken Licken, Debonairs, KFC, McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme, RocoMamas, Spur, and Nando’s.