Mall Mania
There are too many malls coming up even in a land-scarce place like Mumbai. While one is happy to note the quality of construction, the interior design, the aesthetics, et al of these malls, which are comparable with the West, or the East, one tends to wonder whether these malls would be able to run profitably.
While a section of the population, youngsters earning good salaries, and well-to-do parents, do find the mall culture convenient to spend time and shop, the majority of the population can only do window-shopping. The prices of goods and food at the food court are higher than what you would get outside, but that is what you have to shell out for the ambience, I guess. And, international brands are setting up their own exclusive shops all around - one wonders how they would break even. While there is preference for global brands, I believe it is at the very high end only. Even if one does want to show off, it would be a one-time investment on a handbag or perfume, which would roughly cost twice as much as Indian brands.
Amongst all the malls coming up, and the tenant strategy, I am most impressed with Pantaloons. These stores belong to the Future Group, and they seem to have taken a decision to promote only Indian or House Brands. I find some of their house brands pretty good and well priced compared to the international ones. The others, who are also doing well, are Shoppers’ Stop and Lifestyle. I have seen these stores improve their layouts over the past two years, and introduce new products and variants constantly - Shoppers Stop, for example, provides seamless access to CrossRoads, the book shop. And, traffic flows from one to the other.
The best time to avoid the crowds is to go early - say 12 noon on a weekend. The crowd size would be roughly 25% of the usual evening crowds, and one need not wait endlessly to get a seat at the food court. Also, shopping can be done leisurely, with the right level of attention from the attendants that a shopper deserves - sometimes, more than necessary. The moment you approach something like a tie-rack, a guy magically appears near you, trying to offer some unwanted advice. But, these are still early days for retailing in India. I am sure the attendants would go through appropriate training to decipher the real shoppers, the window-gazers, and the ones who are knowledgeable.
Coming back to the impressive mall styles, here are some pics from Mega Mall in Goregaon suburb of Mumbai (the suburbian malls seem to be better designed than the city malls) :
Mega Mall - a view
Another view
Food Court
The inevitable Mac
Improving designs and interiors in every new mall coming up - The Oberoi Mall, which just opened looks even more expansive and state-of-the-art.
Have a great weekend,
Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
3rd May 2008
Mumbai
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[...] believes that in spite of facing competition from international brands, Indian stores are doing well Amongst all the malls coming up, and the tenant strategy, I am most impressed with Pantaloons. [...]