High-street shops are passé, flock to malls

High-street shops are passé, flock to malls

The Times of India

Bangalore: Malls are driving retail in Bangalore. And encouraging Bangaloreans to shop more than they ever did.

A survey done by brand consulting firm brand-comm among 145 large retailers in leading shopping locations in the city finds 70 per cent of these retailers saying malls have impacted sales in nonmall locations. This is confirmed by others. According to information available with Integrated Retail Management Consulting, every brand in The Forum mall is doing better in the mall than in the high streets — be it Brigade Road or Commercial Street. John Lynch, director in Cookie Man, the Australian cookie chain, says the company’s outlet in The Forum could, considering its current run rate, end this year as the store doing the largest business (by volume) amongst all its stores in the world. Consumers clearly love the new malls,’’ says Bikash Kumar of IRMC. “Malls may have affected high street stores, but I think more than that, malls have actually encouraged higher customer spends.”

“Impulse purchases tend to happen more in malls,” says Pavan Padaki, creative director in brand-comm. Estimates indicate that the Bangalore Central mall does business of Rs 25 lakh a day. That’s more than twice what Lifestyle or Shoppers’ Stop on Magrath Road (Rs 11-12 lakh a day) does, and significantly higher than what Big Bazaar (Rs 14 lakh a day) does. Experts say that once more malls come up, there could be a sharper impact especially on smaller shopping centres. Already, two malls — Garuda Mall on Magrath Road and Sigma Mall on Cunningham Road — are nearing completion.

The Mantri Group is planning a 1.5 million sq ft mall on the outer ring road. The Prestige Group has announced a factory outlets mall in Whitefield. A Sigma mall on the outer ring road is also in the offing. High streets like Brigade Road have been attempting to take on this challenge through steps like introduction of parking meters and providing better footpaths. How consumers respond remains to be seen.

HAPPY HOURS

Malls have impacted sales of retailers in non-mall centres
Every brand in The Forum is doing better in the mall than in the high streets
Cookie Man says its outlet in The Forum could end this year as the store is doing the largest business (by volume) amongst all its stores in the world