# Lakeside Mall (Benoni): What to Know Before You Go

Lakeside Mall is a regional shopping centre in Benoni, Gauteng, positioned by Benoni’s Civic Lake and marketed as having a steamboat-inspired, New Orleans–style design theme.

## Quick facts at a glance

– Name: Lakeside Mall
– Category: Shopping mall
– City/area: Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa News
– Approx. tenant count: “Over 130 stores” (as stated by the mall)
– Notable anchors named by the mall: Shoprite, Woolworths, Pick n Pay
– Other anchors reported during the 2020 redevelopment: Pick n Pay and Dis-Chem News

## Location and address notes (important)

Your dataset lists 18b Tom Jones St, Benoni, 1501.

However, the mall’s own website publishes its address as Amina Cachalia Street, Benoni, 1501 (and also shows “Amina Cachalia St” in the footer/contact area).
Meanwhile, the mall’s Facebook “About” section references Tom Jones St., Benoni.

What this means: there’s a real possibility of outdated or mismatched address formatting across sources. The most reliable “source of truth” for directions is the mall’s official site’s directions/contact page.

## Trading hours (centre hours)

Lakeside Mall publishes these trading hours:

– Monday–Friday: 09:00–18:00
– Saturday: 09:00–17:00
– Sundays & public holidays: 09:00–14:00

Individual stores can have different hours (the store directory lists store-by-store trading times).

## Contact details (published)

– Phone (centre): +27 11 427 1801

(Other social profiles may show additional numbers, but the above is the number published on the mall’s official contact page.)

## What makes Lakeside Mall distinctive (beyond “it has shops”)

### A themed interior tied to the lakeside setting
The mall brands itself as being located along Benoni’s Civic Lake, leaning into a steamboat-inspired concept.

A travel listing describing the centre’s design notes:
– A 160m-long riverboat/steamer feature positioned at the water’s edge
– An interior “townscape” aesthetic with New Orleans references (sash windows, cobbled-street styling, buildings based on real structures in New Orleans)

These are distinctive claims compared with a standard suburban mall layout—especially if you care about atmosphere while you do errands.

### Scale and retail mix
The mall states it has over 130 stores and highlights everyday convenience plus variety.
Named major retailers include Shoprite, Woolworths, and Pick n Pay.

## A real milestone: the major redevelopment (completed 2020)

If you’re trying to understand why the tenant mix and layout may feel “newer” in parts of the building, a significant redevelopment wrapped up in August 2020.

Reported details include:

– A three-year upgrade budgeted at R135 million News
– The introduction of new anchor tenants Pick n Pay and Dis-Chem News
– A specific redevelopment investment of R75 million to convert former cinema space into retail (the owner is identified as Growthpoint Properties)
– The reconfigured area is reported as 4,900 m² of gross lettable retail area News

## Shopping, food, and “activities”: what’s actually supported

Your source snippet includes “Lot of good activities.” Based on publicly stated/third-party descriptions, the “activities” angle is most consistently supported as:

– Shopping + dining (restaurants/coffee/fast food are referenced by local listings) Venues
– Family/kids features (a children’s playground/wonderland feature is specifically mentioned in one travel listing)

A note of caution on entertainment: one listing explicitly references Nu Metro Cinema as a “popular feature.”
At the same time, multiple redevelopment articles describe a former cinema space being converted to retail, and reference a cinema complex having closed in the past (these sources do not, by themselves, confirm what cinema operations exist today).

Accuracy flag: If “cinema” is a key reason you’re going, treat older mentions of cinema as potentially outdated and verify current entertainment tenants via the mall’s store directory or current announcements.

## What visitors say (clearly labeled as opinions)

Tripadvisor reviews are subjective, but they can highlight patterns people notice. One review excerpt notes:

– “Lots of walking space between shops”
– “Not many restaurants” (as that reviewer’s view)
– Concerns about staff service levels (again, reviewer opinion)

Use this as perspective, not proof—especially because dining options can change as tenants rotate.

### Source recap (for your map note / CMS fields)
If you’re adding an accurate “note” to a map list, the most defensible, high-confidence pieces are:
– Trading hours
– “Over 130 stores” + named anchors
– Address discrepancy flag (Amina Cachalia St vs Tom Jones St)
– 2020 redevelopment facts (R135m upgrade; R75m cinema-space conversion; new anchors) News