With FDI changing the rules of organised retail in India, and global brands on the lookout for apt spaces to open stores, premium Indian malls are rushing in to capture their attention. Names like Zara, Armani, Forever 21 or Uniqlo appeal to the Indian audiences
attracting higher per square foot sales compared to the department or hypermarket stores. Therefore, malls are replacing or reducing the size of such stores to accommodate foreign entrants. For instance, late last year, when the licensee of British department store chain Debenhams changed ownership, it got an eviction notice from the Ambience Mall in Gurgaon that leased out the 20,000 square foot space to Spanish apparel brand Zara.
That’s
not the only example. Phoenix Market City mall in Mumbai's Lower Parel area trimmed the size of Big Bazaar hypermarket store from 50,000 square foot to 40,000 square foot to accommodate brands like Kenneth Cole, footwear firms Pavers England and Clarks, and Accessorise. In January, Select Citywalk mall in New Delhi uprooted a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet to make space for Starbucks, space previously occupied by rival Barista Lavazza. And when Esprit exited India late last year, Infiniti Mall in Mumbai's Andheri brought in Starbucks. Arvind Brands-run Energie is being replaced by Armani Jeans, and s.Oliver's 5,000-square foot store is being replaced by Forever 21, which is also moving into the space vacated by Debenhams in Oberoi Mall in Mumbai.
And in Bangalore, Forum Mall in the affluent Koramangala area is currently undertaking a survey, asking consumers what brands they would like to see in the mall. On the per square foot sales front, according to the sources, while tenant Pantaloons in Select Citywalk mall, spread over 25,000 square foot, generates average monthly sales of Rs 4 crore, Zara does Rs 7-8 crore a month in its 16,500-square foot store, and in Pacific Mall, in west Delhi, the 50,000- square foot. Lifestyle's monthly average sale of Rs 1,300 per square foot sales in against Zara's Rs 2,333 - in less than one-third of Lifestyle’s space.
