Ideas get triggered somehow. This is how the idea for The Palms Mall (many Lagosians call it Shoprite because that's the anchor tenant) grabbed Tayo Amusan (gesticulating here), fondly called "Chairman" by his staff, friends and associates - he's chairman, Persianas Group.






He told the story to me, Ifeanyi Mbanefo (in ankara here; and I had last week told a little of his story) and Kunle Adeyemi, the futurist architect who conceptualised and developed the Makoko Floating School ( if you Google this, you'd read more on it).










"Chairman" was returning to Nigeria from a UK trip and he had no luggage. The airline staff was like "are you serious, look behind you and see the mountains of luggage your fellow passengers are checking in." The lady at the counter wondered if he was not a Nigerian until "Chairman" presented his Nigerian passport. One or two people who had excess luggage had approached him to help check in their luggage. (Not sure if he did; we didn't get to that).








He returned to Lagos and not long after, the wife of one of the tenants of Persianas's sprawling estate on Danmole Street, off Idejo, Victoria Island, Lagos, where this meeting took place, lamented to "Chairman" that for six months she had been trying to furnish her apartment without luck: no furniture/interior decoration stores.
Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/02/how-popular-palms-shopping-mall-was-birthed/