Known as one of the largest shopping malls in the country, Gulf City Mall has continued to grow and expand in the face of growing competition from T&T’s newest malls—the popular C3 Centre and Southpark Mall.

While the youth gravitate towards C3 and Southpark for recreation, GCM has positioned itself for business investment and shopping experiences as it prepares to take advantage of waterfront developmental plans for San Fernando.

With San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello speaking about rejuvenating nightlife in the city, GCM is planning to open the popular Hard Rock Cafe soon, as well as Cinema One.

The cafe will offer live entertainment.

The selection of the cafe’s fan-favourite legendary burgers and Hard Rock’s Smokehouse offerings of ribs, chicken, and pork cooked to juicy, tender perfection will bring an international standard restaurant for customers.

An award-winning drinks menu which includes signature favourites, hurricanes, margaritas, and alternative rock (alcohol-free) beverages, will be available in Hard Rock’s souvenir, collectible glassware.

During an exclusive interview with Guardian Media, public relations officer for GCM Sarah Ragoonath said the inclusion of Hard Rock Café was not the only treat in store for customers. She said the mall has continued to expand with the last three floors of parking transferred to leasable space, so that when the San Fernando Waterfront project is fully on stream, investors can take advantage of the new office space.

“Level 6 is dedicated to Cinema One, Level 7 reserved for office space and Level 8 to Regus offices,” she said.

Regus has built a network of office, co-working and meeting spaces across the globe with over 3,300 centres in 120 countries. It offers to businesses of all sizes a range of flexible workspaces in the bustling business district of Gulf View.

Asked why they chose Hard Rock Café, Ragoonath said, “Hard Rock Café is a global phenomenon with 185 cafes that are visited by nearly 80 million guests each year. They would be the first for Trinidad and we welcome their culture and vibes,” she added.

Predicting an upsurge in San Fernando’s nightlife with the opening of the popular cafe, Ragoonath said, “South Trinidad is starved for high quality international standard restaurants and bars. Hard Rock Cafe will be new and customer satisfaction will outweigh their expectations.”

She said that GCM will also cater to shoppers.

“We aim to provide a one-stop shopping experience with safe, secure and sheltered parking.”

Asked how the establishment of two new malls had impacted on GCM, Ragoonath quoted American businessman Victor Kiam and said, “In business, the competition will bite you if you keep running, if you stand still, they will swallow you.”

“Gulf City never ran, but most of all, we never stood still. We maintained our anchor tenants the best we could and have added novel tenants to the list, namely Hard Rock Café and Cinema One. Gulf City continued to grow by development and improvement. C3 and Southpark are known for food and recreation, whereas Gulf City is known for quality shopping and convenience,” she added.

She noted that clients have remained loyal to Gulf City even though other malls have cropped up.

“Gulf City has been in operation for the past 38 years.

Our expert knowledge in mall operations has kept tenants through understanding their needs and facilitating them even during the economic downturn. Eighty per cent of our tenants have remained loyal.

Those who left benefitted from the best retail market in the business and were able to gain experience and strive elsewhere. 

About Gulf City Mall Gulf City Ltd (GCL) was incorporated in T&T on February 4, 1982 and was acquired by the Hadeed family in October 1994. The company is a real estate development and management company whose primary assets are Gulf City Mall in La Romaine and Lowlands Mall in Tobago.

The company was initially formed in 1977 as Gulf View Investments Ltd and was established to construct and manage GCM within the hub of three prime residential developments, namely, Gulf View, Bel Air and Palmiste.

The mall was originally constructed on 11 acres of land which it acquired from its sister company Gulf View Property Development (1976) Ltd and is ideally situated on a link road that routes traffic from San Fernando to its suburbs and the south and south-western regions of the island.

The company’s name was changed by way of a special resolution to GCL in February 1982 and in September of that year GCL acquired the related company Gulf View Property Development (1976) Ltd (GVPD).

In August 1984 GCL became the parent company of Gulf View Villas Ltd (GVVL) which was primarily established for the purpose of developing land for the construction of townhouses. 

“However, those who stayed have understood mall and retail peak seasons and will soon benefit from the upturn in the economy and our mall’s innovative developments. We look forward to their success as we feel we have created life-long business relationships with them,” she added.

She added that GCM will continue to be the leading mall in the country for shopping, dining, and lifestyle.

Ragoonath also said that the mall management has continued to deal with petty crime.

“Our security department, as well as surveillance cameras, ensure petty crime is avoided. Our police patrols, as well as armed officers, do deter criminals and we are working on dealing with traffic congestion,” she added.

Meanwhile, chief executive officer of Southex Promotions George Singh said GCM remains unique.

“It is still the only largest shopping malls in the south and in the country. The opening of Hard Rock and Paprika Bistro, one of T&T’s top restaurants as well as the introduction to Cinema One, will make the mall the number one,” he said.

He said at Christmas time the mall remains beautifully decorated.

“Accessibility of Gulf City also makes it a popular choice. The Gulf City Link Road is a major access road and is an easy dropoff.

It is perfectly positioned for the waterfront developmental plans and people can feel safe shopping there,” he added.

He noted that the digital screens in the central atrium area give shoppers a tasteful ambiance.

“It is continuous development in progress and we are proud of our first and largest mall,” he added.