Growing Mall Mania

The retail market in India has taken a head start. The reasons are many. Easy credit facilities, deeper pockets than ever before, swanky malls with finely tuned sales strategies, top-of-the-line brands, goodies that make you drool and bulk discounts are just a few of them. In towns and cities of India, elaborate malls are the new destinations.

With the economy growing the competition in the retail market is fierce. Malls are rewriting the rules and converting the fundamental activity of shopping into a lifestyle statement. Shopping malls became a way of life in America few decades ago. Now they are conquering India. There are more shopping centers than movie theatres, school districts, hotels or hospitals in USA.

In India, the development of shopping malls has literally been a revolution. The opening of the Indian economy in the early 1990s has brought a wide range of new household appliances, stylish apparel, and other consumer goodies, along with plenty of media exposure and so the concept of malls. It is now gradually penetrating even to the smaller cities. Because of this the rent space malls have taken a new high. Be it Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, or any other metro city, the growing trend is visible everywhere.

It is believed that a total of 70-80 million square feet of mall spaces is coming up all over urban India. Chain stores such as Pantaloon, Big Bazar, Shoppers' Stop, West Side, Trinetra, Food World and Sunday-to-Monday have all announced huge expansion plans. A famous shopping point Westside is looking at establishing 100 stores in the next two years, whereas Shoppers' Stop has announced of multiplying to 39 from the current 20 stores. Undoubtedly, it is the big India growth story that is inspiring the retail sector. The coming years will see new destinations such as Nashik, Nagpur, Siliguri and Amritsar booming.