KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 5): Business has been good at the Mara Digital mall, with some traders saying they have exceeded their sales target less than a month since the Bumiputera-only ICT gadgets outlet opened in Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur, a month ago.

Muhammad Azmeer Abdul Rahman said he has been selling 10 handphones a day, on average, since opening on December 8.

“I make sales of between RM10,000 and RM11,000 a day. The most sales I have made in a day is RM12,000.

“My sales target for the month was only RM30,000 but I have reached more than RM50,000,” he told The Malaysian Insider, declining to reveal exact figures.

Ameer, however, said he was not making a lot of profit, having only marked up the prices at 4% to 5% for the phones he obtained from supplier WGN Scan Sdn Bhd.

The Bumiputera-owned company was appointed to manage tenants at Mara Digital and check all products sold there.

Finance manager of distributor, WGN Scan Sdn Bhd, Siti Azar Amin said total sales by 39 traders who have opened shop for less than a month at Mara Digital was about RM2 million.

“The response is very encouraging. We only expected sales to hit RM500,000 a month,” she said.

Muhammad Arifin Mohd Nasir, another trader, said his sales were about RM30,000.

“The response from customers has been very encouraging. They come from all races but most are Malays.”

He also said he had exceeded his sales target for the month, like many other traders.

“Our shop was targeting RM40,000 to RM50,000 a month but we never expected business to be this good.”

Trader Mohd Hairol Nizad Abdul Rahman said he made about RM4,000 to RM5,000 a week for sales and services, including laptop and handphone repairs.

He said his shop was just two weeks old.

“Most of our clients come to get their gadgets repaired.”

He said he would meet his target for the month since he was already halfway there.

Hairol also said he found business very encouraging, especially during weekends.

Asked if prices at Mara Digital were lower than Low Yat Plaza, he said they were some 40% lower.

The proposal to set up Mara Digital, which was earlier dubbed Low Yat 2, came following a theft at Low Yat Plaza in July last year that sparked racially tinged fighting.

Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob mooted the idea of a “Low Yat 2”, and said yesterday (Jan 4) new Mara Digital stores would open in Damansara and Shah Alam.