Marathahalli: Factory outlets hotspot

Shop for seconds at top frenzy
Deccan Herald

Marathahalli is beyond the Airport Road and houses several factory outlets of some of the top brands. On weekends, it is swarming with shoppers.

It’s not only people from call centres, BPO’s, software giants, media houses who shop at these stores. Mid-level professionals, students and families also flock here, especially on weekends. The stores are open seven days a week between 10.30 am and 8 pm.

“The shopping fever is at its pitch from Friday to Sunday and there’s hardly any time for us to breathe from 3pm onwards till we pull down shutters at 9pm. The rest of the week is quite slow-paced,” says Azmath from the Nike showroom. One of the reasons for the crowds is the dicounts on offer at almost all the outlets. Nike is currently offering upto 60 per cent,Titan 40 per cent, Reebok 50 per cent etc. “We may be able to afford the market prices but why spend more when we can get a great bargain?” Nirmal a call centre professional argues.

Adequate and free parking space is another big boon for shoppers who throng these stores. Even people new to the City, both foreigners and those from other states join in this mad shopping extragavanza. Anant, an engineering student from Trichy is exuberant. “ We came all the way to Bangalore to shop at Marathahalli. We had heard so much about the place from our friends who regularly shop here. I am thrilled to get such a good bargain,” he adds while struggling with the shopping bags in hand.

Mathangi, marketing manager of a garment factory, says she also likes to shop there because the products are branded, competitively priced and have no visible defects. “I’m happy with the stuff I bought. Besides, the clothes, customer service is also quite good,” she adds. “Our aim is to make the customer happy and also build brand consciousness in people,” says Sanath of Reebok.

The factory outlets sell ‘rejected’ stocks - those which either don’t move in the main stores or with barely discernible defects. But that doesn’t deter people from shopping here. Preetha, a second PUC student from Jyothi Nivas College, reasons, “It is good stuff at throw away prices. These clothes are trendy and nice.”
The popularity of these seconds stores is huge. Many shopper grudge the “early closing hours.” Smrithi, an IT professional from ITPL says the working hours should be extended. “I finish work only by 9 pm, even on weekends. It would be great if the shops could be kept open till about 11 pm or midnight,” she says.

But store owners differ. Thomas Anthony of Identiti has a point. “We can’t keep the shops open after 9 pm as it doesn’t make good business sense. Besides, Marathahalli is quite far from central City. It is not safe for people, especially women to shop during late evening hours,” he says while admitting that with the construction of the Ring Road, the approach to the area has become easy. “In the near future, it might be possible for us to keep the stores open till late at night. However, conditions apply,” he adds.