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R. Savitha

Pune , June 17

SHOPPERS' Stop, West Side, Pantaloon — very familiar names in the mall concept in the country. Selfridges of London or the Bangkok Central, the show case mall is what international customers are familiar with. To cater to the increasing number of mall customers, Bangalore has decided to take a lead by setting up the Bangalore Central on the same international lines.

Promoted by the Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, this is the first of its showcase malls in the country.

Talking to Business Line, Mr V. Muralidharan, Head, Pantaloon Malls, said this is the first and biggest seamless mall in the country and would house over 300 brands across categories, such as apparels, footwear and accessories for women, men, children, infant basics, apart from a whole range of music, books, coffee shop, food court, super market (Food Bazaar), fine dining restaurant, pub and discotheque. It sprawls over 1,20,000 sq. ft. area and is a six storied seamless mall. To entice the customers the first and only one of its kind, "Radio Central," an in-house radio station, which has round-the-clock jockey anchoring various events, playing music and springing pleasant surprises for the customers would be on the roll. The mall also has a separate section for services such as travel, finance, investment, insurance, concert/cinema ticket booking, bill payments and other miscellaneous services. It would also house `Central Square' a dedicated space for product launches, impromptu events, daring displays, exciting shows and art exhibitions. There will soon be a wedding registry and service, he said.

He said Central's offerings would be similar to what other shopping malls offer — fashion, cosmetics, fragrances, consumer and personal electronics, home appliances, furniture, time wear, eyewear, footwear, jewellery accessories, books, music and supermarket. Shopping at the mall is spread over 5 levels and each level is dedicated to each section with level 1 for women, level 2 for men and level 3 for youth. Levels 4 and 5 would be for children and supermarket respectively with a play area also thrown in.

Mr Muralidharan said women's section would house western, casual, ethnic wear, footwear, fragrances, and lingerie, cosmetics both national and international and would have more than 21 brands of women's wear. Men would have a choice of 20 brands to choose from and the youth would have their choice of national and international footwear brands and a space dedicated to the stationary and books from Conqueror to Shankars. The ground mezzanine floor would house Music World and Coffee Day.

Once through with the shopping, then snacks would have to make their way and the eating options are quite varied ranging from fast food to fine dining snacks to Chinese coffee shop to Italian and Mexican cuisine. Not to be left behind, the South Indian food too would be on offer. The investment for the entire project is about Rs 30 crore and the turnover target is of Rs 650 crore for the fiscal 2004 and Rs 1,100 crore for the fiscal 2005, he added. It had recorded a turnover of Rs 450 crore for the year ended June 2003.

Hyderabad, Pune next on the list

MR Muralidharan said this is the first of the chain of Central Malls being set up by Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and there are plans to open malls in in Hyderabad followed by Pune, to be known as Hyderabad Central and Pune Central respectively.

These are expected to be ready by the current fiscal and for the next fiscal it would be at Gurgaon, he said. The mall at Hyderabad would be located at Panjagutta Circle and the total area would be close to 2,40,000 sq ft and Bund Garden would be the location for Pune with a total area of 1,30,000 sq ft. USP? "It would be in the heart of that particular city and people in each city relate to Central as an import point of activity and belonging," he added.

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