Agrisal inaugurates this Wednesday Plaza Mundo Usulután, its third shopping center in the country, located on the road of the Coast, which strategically connects with San Miguel and other cities of the east.
Its shops, restaurants, kiosks and a wide amphitheatre will henceforth, part of the commercial attraction for an estimated population of 500,000 in this department.
But beyond an infrastructure that will house 125 commercial premises, Agrisal is convinced that a development pole has been created that will transform the economy from at least 21 municipalities adjacent to the shopping center.
The purpose of Agrisal is to generate prosperity and more sustainable areas. We saw in Usulutan a huge development potential. Here there is port, there are beautiful beaches, a volcano… it is the fifth most important city in the country and there is a very thriving trade throughout the area that is complemented by other areas of the east such as San Miguel, said Eduardo Quiñónez, president of Agrisal.
Not only will it be a meeting point to buy clothes, household items or eat with the family, but it will also bring essential services to those who used to arrive longer or did not exist to the inhabitants.
It will have, for example, a pharmacy from the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS), three language academies for young people to learn English and an office of the Meza Ayau Foundation that will help manage social projects in communities, where a study has already been done on the level of schooling of people, among others.
And according to Ricardo Augspurg, director of the real estate division of Agrisal, people are already asking if the mall will have a cinema and a gym, two services that Augspurg assures will be incorporated later as there are approximately 3,000 square meters of land on which it can continue to be built.
Another attraction of the mall will be its amphitheater, with a capacity for 700 people, a space that will enhance cultural events and healthy recreation among families.
The construction and inauguration of this mall will also have a significant impact on job creation.
According to Quiñónez, during the construction of the mall, which lasted a little more than a year, between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs were generated and now that it is ready, it is estimated that it will generate another 1,000 jobs for inhabitants of the area.
To date more than 50% of the stores have already opened, but by October the mall is expected to be operating at 100%.
“I come to eat, to buy and right now I’m looking for medicine,” said María Concepción Guevara, a woman residing in the canton of San José, at the detour hacienda La Carrera, and who will take only 15 minutes to get to the mall transporting on a bus in the area.
Agrisal estimates that by the end of the year, Plaza Mundo Usulután will receive an average of 25,000 people every day and this will boost other businesses in the area.
It will incursion in the cellar service
Agrisal will venture this year with a new business model, focused on the cellar service. According to Ricardo Augspurg, real estate director of Agrisal, in the third quarter of this year they will begin to build an area of at least 700 meters of winery in Plaza Mundo Apopa and in the first quarter of 2025 they will do the same with Plaza Mundo Soyapango.
According to Augspurg, this project called “Mundo Bodegas” will complement the service they give to their tenants, so that they can have their inventory closer and at a lower cost than that of the stores.
But, in addition, it will be a service for entrepreneurs who want to have a key distribution point in their operations and also for anyone who wants to keep their belongings outside the home.
“It’s a fairly flexible winery concept,” said Augspurg, who has seen a great interest from many entrepreneurs.
In Apopa there is already 25% reserve of wineries, while in Soyapango it is 30%.
Agrisal has also entered the housing segment this year, with the construction of apartment towers in Soyapango.
In the coming years, the business group is also studying the possibility of a new mall in the West and entertainment projects or including swimming pools and other areas for family recreation.
This article has been translated after first appearing in La Prensa Grafica