Embracing the mall culture

Embracing the mall culture
Tuesday June 12 2007 10:12 IST

Garuda Mall is seen crowded as usual.

BANGALORE: Malls in the city have become multi-activity centre where entertainment, shopping and get-together are all arranged at one place. Mall culture is coming of age in Bangalore as consumerism catches on like wildfire.

Lately, malls have become the ideal meeting place for Bangaloreans of all age groups. But the most visible among them is the young crowd. For them, it’s the best hang out. Shopoholics too find malls attractive with their huge array of stocks and choices.

The concept of shopping has perceptibly changed. Many West-oriented shoppers find malls attractive because they get the whole range of products under one roof.

Malls have virtually become the meeting ground for families and for get- together and parties. It has become a status symbol to organise a birthday bash or such occasion here. The artificial lights with air conditioning adds pep to the ambience.

An officer of Garuda Mall says that it hosts many parties at the food courts. Nowadays, people are ready to spend for fun, he added.

In India’s Silicon Valley, increased spending can be directly attributed to the rise in disposable income, willingness to spend and to get the best. In addition, these malls spare no effort in courting customers who are willing to spend. They, therefore, provide many facilities hitherto not available to customers. Moreover, one can shop for home furnishings to groceries, fabrics to accessories, toiletries to food at one place. It boosts of a good location, a lot of space and good parking facilities.

According to Subhasini, an employee of IBM, she loves to check out the latest trend in malls. ‘‘I like to freak out with my friends on weekends and go for shopping at malls. My favourite is Forum. For hours, we can check out the branded stuffs and have dinner at the food court before leaving.’’

For college students, it’s also a good place to while away their time. A student of Mount Carmel College Mahalakshmi says, ‘‘Malls are a meeting place for us.’’

In addition, many programmes are held to retain and attract new customers. It includes brand promotions, music programmes contests and shopping festivals. Marketing executive of a mall said, many live band shows are organised and the place is used as promotional space for product promotions, product launches and awareness programmes. Celebrities are also roped in to attract customers.

Recently, host of M A D Rob attended an interactive session with children at Landmark, Forum. Not to mention festivals are given a priority and cultural programmes are held.

It also organises Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day, Father’s Day and offers attractive gifts.

Some popular malls witness a footfall of over 15,000 people during the weekdays. And this number crosses 40,000 at weekends. Taking cue from the heavy footfall, existing malls are contemplating expansion and a good number of private investors are considering malls for new business ventures.

Soon Bangalore will see many more malls. Prestige plans to have a high end mall in UB City, UKN Properties proposes to have Rex Cinema Mall on Brigade Road and Sobha Global Mall in Rajajinagar.