There's bound to be a shakeout in the 'mall mania' in the very near future.
In 2001 - 2002, I used to stay in Veera Desai Road during my routine monthly visits to Mumbai. I haven't visited the area after that ... however, I find it difficult to believe from friends residing in Andheri (West) that there are more than 5 malls and multiplexes in that short stretch of road. The residents must be having a terrible time with so much of pressure on the already crumbling infrastructure.
Most of the mall owners have no clues about 'marketing'. Their concept of marketing is limited to publishing full page newspaper advertisements a couple of times while the construction is halfway through. Its a case of 'me too' jumping onto the bandwagon. These structures need to be positioned as 'destination points' with sufficient, I repeat sufficient open space to laze around. Once the young and not too young lovers and couples get tired of walking all around the place or whispering sweet nothings, they will go for the pizzas, burgers, chais, mochas, icecreams.... That's what I term as market creation.
However, do most of the mall owners care if the tenants earn their money or not? And when business of the tenants start falling, the mall owners waste no time in making statements of self pity - 'market conditions are bad'. Mall owners and tenants should continuously strive to project themselves as happening ones.
Readers in Mumbai, B'lore, Hyd, NCR who have had the fortune of visiting City Centre in Salt Lake and the misfortune of visiting Emami Landmark on Lord Sinha Road, both in Kolkata will know what I wanted to convey.
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