Myanmar Plaza

Myanmar Plaza is a large shopping mall in Yangon, Myanmar. It is located in Bahan Township on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, at the intersection with No. 1 Industrial Road, and forms part of the broader Myanmar Centre mixed-use development. The centre combines commercial, hospitality, residential and office uses, while the plaza provides the retail and dining component of the complex. The mall was completed in 2015 and opened to the public on 5 December of that year. Its owner is Vietnam-based Hoang Anh Gia Lai, which developed the Myanmar Centre as a reported $440 million mixed-use project. The wider development includes office towers, a hotel and residential apartments. The attached Meliá Yangon hotel, described as a Spanish-owned five-star property, was completed in 2016. Myanmar Plaza’s tenant mix covers several everyday and lifestyle categories. Retail outlets include home-appliance and electronics stores, lifestyle retailers, beauty businesses, and fashion shops. The mall also contains a 4,000-square-metre food court with cafés, fast-food outlets, restaurants and teashops. A 2,000-square-metre Marketplace grocery outlet provides supermarket retail within the complex. In addition to shopping and dining, the plaza has a large indoor and outdoor promotion hall that can be used for commercial events and product presentations. One publicly documented event was the official launch of the Toyota Vios at Myanmar Plaza in 2016. This illustrates the mall’s role not only as a retail destination but also as an event and marketing venue for consumer brands. The mall became politically contentious following Myanmar’s 2021 coup d’état. On 7 April 2021, a small grenade was launched inside the property. On 25 November 2021, the mall’s security personnel were criticized after using force to disperse a flash-mob protest held inside the mall. The incident contributed to an ongoing anti-mall boycott movement among protesters. These events made Myanmar Plaza a notable commercial site in the context of post-coup civil unrest, although the available reference material does not establish a change in ownership, management or operating status afterward. Myanmar Plaza is therefore best understood as a Yangon-based shopping and lifestyle centre rather than a standalone consumer-goods brand. Its identity is tied to the Myanmar Centre development, a multi-use urban project, and its market role combines retail leasing, food and beverage, grocery shopping, hospitality adjacency and event hosting.

Myanmar Plaza was developed as the retail component of Myanmar Centre, a large mixed-use project in Yangon associated with Vietnam-based Hoang Anh Gia Lai. The wider development was reported as a $440 million project combining commercial offices, hospitality and residential accommodation. Myanmar Plaza occupies a five-storey building on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road in Bahan Township, near the road’s intersection with No. 1 Industrial Road. Construction was completed in 2015, and the mall opened on 5 December 2015. From its opening, the property was designed as more than a collection of shops. Its tenant and facility mix included home-appliance and electronics retailers, lifestyle stores, beauty and fashion outlets, food and beverage operators, and grocery retail. The food court covers approximately 4,000 square metres and includes cafés, fast-food outlets, restaurants and teashops. Marketplace operates a grocery outlet of approximately 2,000 square metres within the mall. Myanmar Plaza also includes a substantial promotion hall, with indoor and outdoor areas for exhibitions, commercial activations and product launches. In 2016, it hosted the official launch of the Toyota Vios. The event illustrates how the mall functioned as a marketing and public-gathering venue as well as a conventional shopping destination. The commercial context expanded in 2016 when the attached Meliá Yangon hotel was completed. The hotel was described in the reference material as a Spanish-owned five-star property. Together with the office towers and residential apartments of Myanmar Centre, the hotel strengthened the development’s position as a mixed-use destination rather than an isolated retail building. Myanmar Plaza’s later public history was shaped by political instability. After the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état, the mall became a target associated with anti-coup protest activity. On 7 April 2021, a small grenade was launched inside the premises. On 25 November 2021, a flash-mob protest took place inside the mall and security personnel used force to disperse it. The security response generated substantial criticism. Protesters subsequently initiated an ongoing boycott movement against the mall. The available source material does not provide verified details about the identity of the protesters, injuries, legal proceedings, subsequent ownership changes or the mall’s longer-term financial performance. Myanmar Plaza’s documented development consequently spans three phases: its creation as part of Myanmar Centre, its establishment as a Yangon retail and events venue, and its emergence as a politically sensitive commercial location during the post-coup period. It remains categorized here as a shopping-centre business rather than a product manufacturer or corporate consumer brand.

• 2021

  Security controversy and boycott movement

  [1]Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org

  Following a criticized security response to a flash-mob protest, Myanmar Plaza became the subject of an ongoing boycott movement.

• 2016

  Meliá Yangon completed

  [1]Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org

  The attached Meliá Yangon five-star hotel was completed within the Myanmar Centre development.

• 2016

  Toyota Vios launch event

  [1]Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org

  The mall hosted the official launch event for the Toyota Vios.

• 2015

  Myanmar Plaza completed

  [1]Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org

  The five-storey shopping mall was completed as part of the Myanmar Centre mixed-use development.

• 2015

  Public opening

  [1]Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org

  Myanmar Plaza opened to the public on 5 December 2015.

A large urban shopping and lifestyle centre serving Yangon consumers, with a mid-to-upper-market retail mix, dining facilities, grocery shopping and event space.

• Retail · 2015

  Shopping-centre retail services

  Myanmar Plaza provides a multi-category retail environment with stores selling home appliances, electronics, lifestyle goods, beauty products and fashion. The mall’s offer is oriented toward urban Yangon shoppers and is integrated with the office, hotel and residential uses of Myanmar Centre.

• Grocery retail · 2015

  Marketplace grocery outlet

  Marketplace occupies an approximately 2,000-square-metre space in Myanmar Plaza and provides grocery shopping within the mixed-use development.

• Food and beverage · 2015

  Food court

  The mall’s approximately 4,000-square-metre food court combines cafés, fast-food outlets, restaurants and teashops, making dining a major part of the centre’s visitor proposition.

• Events and marketing services · 2015

  Promotion hall

  Indoor and outdoor promotion areas support exhibitions, brand activations and product-launch events. The venue hosted the official Toyota Vios launch in 2016.

• 2021

  Grenade incident

  A small grenade was launched inside Myanmar Plaza on 7 April 2021 amid unrest following Myanmar’s 2021 coup d’état.

  Source

• 2021

  Security response to anti-coup flash mob

  On 25 November 2021, mall security used force to disperse a flash-mob protest. The response attracted significant criticism and was followed by an ongoing boycott movement directed at the mall.

  Source

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• 2016Toyota Vios official launch event

  Myanmar

  Myanmar Plaza served as the venue for Toyota’s official Vios launch event in Myanmar, using the mall’s promotion facilities to reach retail and automotive audiences.

  Outcome. The event is documented as an official product launch hosted at the mall; broader campaign performance is not available in the reference material.

  Source

1. 1Myanmar Plazaen.wikipedia.org