1 Utama Japanese department store Isetan, and the first IKEA store in Malaysia in 1996. The mall has received several awards, including Gold in EdgeProp Malaysia's Best Managed Property Awards 2019 (retail category)

History

left|thumb|250px|First phase or Old Wing section of the mall

In the 1990s, See Hoy Chan Holdings Group started developing a new town known as Bandar Utama comprising both residential and commercial areas. As market demand for this location surged, the developer planned to build a mall in this town. The developer looked for inspiration for such a mall in the United States in 1993 before designing the first phase of the mall known as the Old Wing today. As the developer believed that the mall should come with anchor tenants, they signed an agreement with AEON to open Jusco (later rebranded as AEON) as the main tenant in the mall.

The mall was officially opened on August 19, 1995 with all premises fully rented by various tenants. The first IKEA store in Malaysia opened on April 25, 1996 in the mall with a good reception from customers during the first few days after opening. At that time, most IKEA products sold there were made in Malaysia including dining tables, chairs, coffee tables, venetian blinds, cutting boards, toys and bed frames. The IKEA store covered of space inside the mall. Due to increased demand for IKEA products, the store was relocated to a bigger space in Mutiara Damansara on August 14, 2003, becoming the largest IKEA store in Asia-Pacific at that time until it was surpassed by another store in Gwangmyeong, South Korea in 2014.

thumb|left|250px|A covered bridge linking the Old Wing and New Wing was opened during the soft opening on December 13, 2003

As the mall faced increased demand for retail spaces, leading to a long tenant waiting list, the director of See Hoy Chan Holdings Group, Teo Chiang Kok, planned an expansion of the mall. This led to construction of the second phase, known as the New Wing, to further accommodate increasing numbers of customers. Construction cost RM300 million and increased the number of retail lots from 220 units to 600 units. The two blocks are connected by a covered pedestrian bridge. The new section also includes an aviary, zoo, diving pool and climbing wall. The mall soft-opened on December 13, 2003, It features a surfing pool, a skydiving wind tunnel and several restaurants and cafes which aim to make the mall a multi-sport and entertainment venue alongside shopping. The mall also added 500 more parking bays and pedestrian access to Bandar Utama MRT station. Development of this phase cost RM150 million.

Features

thumb|left|250px|Rainforest in 1 Utama

1 Utama contains of retail space. Its 713 stores appeal to all economic strata, MPH Bookstores. and Isetan department store. Aside from retail, 1 Utama offers sport amenities to the public including a bowling alley, baseball cage, climbing wall, surfing pool and skydiving wind tunnel. The rainforest inside the mall was grown on October 25, 2003. It was done by extracting a Tabebuia rosea tree from a nearby forest carried into the mall to create the forest canopy, whereas an additional 200 samplings of other species such as Alocasia, wild banana, Johanesteijsmannia, Aglaonema and Phyllagathis will be used as shrub layer. The rainforest opened to the public in November 2003. As of 2019, the mall attracts more than 33 million visitors annually,

Transport

thumb|left|250px|Bandar Utama bus hub

thumb|right|[[Bandar Utama station connected the mall with Entrance B]]

The mall is connected to several major roads including Damansara–Puchong Expressway at Bandar Utama Interchange, and Lebuh Bandar Utama. The car park is also equipped with electric vehicle charging points.

The mall is accessible via public transport, like MRT Kajang Line and future LRT Shah Alam Line via Bandar Utama station, or via buses from Rapid KL dan PJ City Bus bus service at Bandar Utama bus hub.

Incidents

Fires

There were two fires that broke out in the mall. The first fire was on February 25, 2013, which started in a storage facility in the children's playground equipment store which caused the whole building to experience a power outage. The second fire occurred on July 11, 2014, when the fire broke out from the kitchen of one of the food court. Both fires were minor, and no casualties were reported.

Crime

In response to the abduction of Canny Ong in a shopping center in Bangsar which led to her death on June 13, 2003, many shopping malls in Klang Valley strengthened their security in order to protect their customers, including One Utama shopping mall where the management deployed additional policemen, guard dogs and security guards to patrol the mall. Despite this, there were several false alarms when some customers reported to police that their cars were stolen, when in fact the customers forgot where they had parked their cars. During Chinese New Year in 2014, a burglar stole jewellery worth RM10 million in one of the jewellery shops. The heist was planned by a Latin American gang in advance before executing the burglary, which included hiding inside the mall as it closed, cutting off electricity, disabling the burglar alarm system, stealing CCTV recording units and melting safe doors using an oxy acetylene torch.

Suicide

A woman fell to her death from the 4th floor at the new wing on 19 May 2021. The incident happened at 1 pm. The mall emergency response team quickly handled the situation before handing it over to the police. The management of One Utama has confirmed that the police will be investigating the matter further.

References

  • Official website