1 Utama is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

Bandar Utama Bandar Utama Damansara is a residential township located within the Sungai Buloh mukim (subdivision) of the Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is a residential suburb and home to the popular 1 Utama Shopping Centre. Bandar Utama Damansar ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sem ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, with an area of and containing 713 stores. It is the one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia and the seventh-largest shopping mall in the world before IOI City Mall in

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal governm ...

surpassed it in 2022. The first phase of the mall, now known as the "Old Wing", was opened in September 1995. With the increase in customer traffic and demand for retail spaces inside the mall, a second phase called "New Wing" was added in 2003. An additional expansion of was added in 2018 with the addition of 1 Utama E. Today the mall houses multiple retail areas, restaurants, cafes, sports facilities, a

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

, and a bus station with national and international services. Current anchor tenants of the mall include;

AEON The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...

Department Store and Supermarket, Jaya Grocer, and department store Parkson. The mall formerly housed Singaporean department store

Tangs TANGS is a department store located on Orchard Road in Singapore, owned by C.K. Tang Limited. The store is regarded as a principal shopping destination in the city, comparable to Bloomingdale's in New York City and Selfridges in London. The co ...

, Japanese department store

Isetan ( unlisted on March 26, 2008, ) is a Japanese department store. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Isetan has branches throughout Japan and South East Asia, including in Jinan, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin, and formerly in Ba ...

, and the first

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been ...

store in Malaysia in 1996. The mall has received several awards including Gold in EdgeProp Malaysia's Best Managed Property Awards 2019 (retail category) and the Platinum Award for Shopping Complex of the Year in the Retail World Excellence Awards 2006/07 edition.

History

In the 1990s, See Hoy Chan Holdings Group started developing a new town known as

that consists of residential and commercial areas. As the market demand for this location has surged, the developer had planned to build a mall in this town. The developer looked for inspiration for such a mall in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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 In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

, they signed an agreement with

to open

Jusco is the acronym for Japan United Stores Company, a chain of "general merchandise stores" (or hypermarket) and the largest of its type in Japan. The various JUSCO companies are subsidiaries of the ÆON supermarket chain. The JUSCO name was adopte ...

(currently rebranded as AEON) as the main tenant in the mall. The mall was officially opened in September 1995 and all the premises were fully rented by various tenants. The cost of the construction of the first phase of the mall was RM89 million. The first

store in Malaysia opened on April 25, 1996 in the mall and received very good reception from customers during the first few days after opening. At the time, most of the IKEA products were made in Malaysia including dining tables,

chairs A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

coffee tables A coffee table is a low table designed to be placed in a sitting area for convenient support of beverages, remote controls, magazines, books (especially large, illustrated coffee table books), decorative objects, and other small items.R.W. Sym ...

venetian blinds A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mate ...

cutting boards A cutting board (or chopping board) is a durable board on which to place material for cutting. The kitchen cutting board is commonly used in preparing food; other types exist for cutting raw materials such as leather or plastic. Kitchen cutting bo ...

toys A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pe ...

and

bed frames A bed frame or bedstead is the part of a bed used to position the bed base, the flat part which in turn directly supports the mattress(es). The frame may also stop the matresses from sliding sideways, and it may include means of supporting a can ...

. The IKEA store covered of space inside the mall. Due to the increased demand for IKEA products, the store was relocated to

Mutiara Damansara Mutiara Damansara is an affluent major township in the northern flank of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Transportation Public transportation Mutiara Damansara MRT station is the main railway station serving the township. rapidKL bus rou ...

on August 14, 2003 which was bigger than the previous store and became the largest IKEA store in

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Paci ...

during that time until it was surpassed by another store in

Gwangmyeong Gwangmyeong (; Korean: 광명시) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Seoul to the east, north and northeast, Anyang to the southeast, Siheung to the southwest, and Bucheon to the northeast. Gwangmyeong is home to one of the ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in 2014.

Bandar utama link at day by horsesplease dd4k5ac

As the mall facing increased demand for retail spaces which led to long tenant waiting list, the director of See Hoy Chan Holdings Group, Teo Chiang Kok, considered expanding the mall by building the second phase which is known as the ''New Wing'' in order to further accommodate the increasing numbers of customers and retail lots which would cost RM300 million and increased the retail lot from 220 units to 600 units. The two blocks are now connected by a covered pedestrian bridge. The new section also includes an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages. Avi ...

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

, diving pool and

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

. The mall soft-opened on December 13, 2003, with the grand opening taking place on April 2, 2004 by the

Sultan of Selangor Sultan of Selangor (سلطان سلاڠور) is the title of the constitutional ruler of Selangor, Malaysia who is the head of state and head of the Islamic religion in Selangor. The current monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ascended the ...

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj ( Jawi: ; born 24 December 1945) is the ninth and current Sultan of the Malaysian state of Selangor. He ascended the throne on 22 November 2001, succeedi ...

. The owner and management of the mall was transferred to Bandar Utama City Centre. The first renovation of the first phase (or ''Old Wing'') took place in June 2011, 16 years after it opened, and cost RM160 million. The renovation included a relocation of the Jusco supermarket to the new area, additions of cinema screens, and a new entrance to the 1 First Avenue office building. An additional expansion of inside the mall included the third phase (known as 1 Utama E) which was opened on January 24, 2018. It features a

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

pool, a

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

and several

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

and cafes which aim to make the mall a multi-sport and entertainment venue alongside shopping. The mall will also bring 500 more parking bays as well as providing pedestrian access to Bandar Utama MRT station. The development of this phase cost RM150 million.

Features

1 Utama contains of retail space. Its 713 stores appeal to all economic strata, from department stores such as

and Parkson, to high-end international chains and multiple restaurants such as the Food District food court,

Din Tai Fung Din Tai Fung (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tín-thai-fûng) is a Taiwanese restaurant chain. Outside Taiwan, Din Tai Fung also has branches in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand ...

, KFC,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

, Texas Chicken,

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in ...

and Carl's Jr. and two cinema chains,

TGV Cinemas TGV Cinemas Sdn Bhd (also known as TGV Pictures and formerly known as Tanjong Golden Village) is the second largest cinema chain in Malaysia. As of March 2019, TGV Cinemas had 38 multiplexes with 310 screens and more than 50,000 seats. TGV Cinema ...

and GSC. This mall previously housed the first

store in Malaysia, Cold Storage,

MPH Bookstores MPH Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian group of companies best known for its book retailing and online retailing services as well as being involved in the printing, publishing and distribution of books and library services in Malaysia and Sin ...

.and

department store. Aside from retail, 1 Utama offers sport amenities to the public including a

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

, baseball cage,

pool and

. The

inside the mall was grown on October 25, 2003. It was done by extracting a ''

Tabebuia rosea ''Tabebuia rosea'', also called pink poui, and rosy trumpet tree is a neotropical tree that grows up to and can reach a diameter at breast height of up to . The Spanish name ''roble de sabana'', meaning "savannah oak", is widely used in Costa Ri ...

'' tree from a nearby forest carried into the mall to create the

forest canopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

, whereas an additional 200 samplings of other species such as ''

Alocasia ''Alocasia'' is a genus of rhizomatous or tuberous, broad-leaved, perennial, flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are about 90 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and eastern Australia. Around the world, many gr ...

'', wild banana, '' Johanesteijsmannia'', ''

Aglaonema ''Aglaonema'' is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae. They are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and New Guinea.

'' and ''Phyllagathis'' will be used as

shrub layer Stratification in the field of ecology refers to the vertical layering of a habitat; the arrangement of vegetation in layers. It classifies the layers (sing. ''stratum'', pl. ''strata'') of vegetation largely according to the different heights to w ...

. The rainforest opened to the public in November 2003. As of 2019, the mall attracts more than 33 million visitors annually, with peak traffic occurring during the

holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

The mall is connected to several major roads including Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and Lebuh Bandar Utama. In addition to providing 14,000 parking bays for cars, the mall also provides

bicycle parking Bicycle parking typically requires a degree of security to prevent theft. The context for bike parking requires proper infrastructure and equipment ( bike racks, bicycle locks etc.) for secure and convenient storage. Parking facilities include ...

. The car park is also equipped with electric vehicle charging points. The mall is accessible via

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

, including

MRT MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...

via Bandar Utama MRT station or via

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...

from

RapidKL Rapid KL (styled as ''rapidKL'') is a public transportation system owned by Prasarana Malaysia and operated by its subsidiaries Rapid Rail and Rapid Bus. With its coverage throughout Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley areas, it was followed by ...

bus service.

Incidents

Fires

There were two

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...

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 A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...

. The second fire occurred on July 11, 2014 when the fire broke out from the

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...

of one of the

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. ...

. Both fires were minor, and no casualties were reported.

Crime

In response to the abduction of Canny Ong in a shopping center in

Bangsar Bangsar is a residential suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, lying about south-west of the city centre. It is part of the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency. Bangsar is administered by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), unlike ...

which led to her death on June 13, 2003, many shopping malls in

Klang Valley Klang Valley ( ms, Lembah Klang; zh, 巴生谷; ) is an urban conglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and includes its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is co ...

strengthened their security in order to protect their customers, including One Utama shopping mall where the management deployed additional

policemen A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

guard dogs A guard dog or watchdog (not to be confused with an attack dog) is a dog used to watch for and guard property against unwanted or unexpected human or animal intruders. The dog is discerning so that it does not annoy or attack the resident hum ...

and

security guards A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

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 Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...

in 2014, a burglar stole jewellery worth RM10 million in one of the jewellery shops. The heist was planned by a

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...

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 Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

recording units and melting safe doors using an oxy acetylene

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...

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

External links

Official website
{{Shopping malls in Malaysia 1995 establishments in Malaysia Buildings and structures completed in 1995 Petaling District Shopping malls established in 1995 Shopping malls in Selangor