High streets attract brands/retailers as they take on malls

Retailers are increasingly stepping away from opening stores in shopping malls as they find rentals too high. They are now looking at high street options. In fact, over the years traditional bazaars have evolved into today’s high streets. And the perception of high streets being down-market is changing. They, especially prominent high streets still attract a lot more people and their positioning in the Indian retail scenario today is still very strong.

High street versus shopping malls

A JLL research paper ‘High Streets In Vogue — Always’, sometime back had examined 24 most popular high streets in India. The study indicated that high streets have successfully stood the test of time in India as they have created a unique selling proposition distinctly their own through constant evolution and, in many cases, catering to specific niche segments. Therefore, these high streets have managed to attract not only domestic brands but top global ones who otherwise prefer malls. In every city that the report looked into, there are 2-4 high streets that have constantly evolved and managed to retain their reputation as important retailing destinations.

For customers shops on high streets make more sense as it is easy to get in and get out. In shopping malls, on the other hand, a fixed time has to be allotted for shopping. Also, parking can be painful in a mall. Further, if the shop is not located on the first or ground floor, customers tend to get deviated by other attractions. Over the years, shopping malls have changed and house a variety of other stuff such as movies, eateries etc. On the other hand, at a high street store, customers get personal attention and even discounts on the quoted price. But in the end it’s the retailer’s decision.

Family-owned Neeru’s Ensembles waited nearly three years to find an anchor shop in the busy commercial outlet in Chennai. Today, it boasts of a turnover of Rs 200 crores and has 24 outlets spread across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Dubai. It has been doing good business over the years through their own outlets. Avinish Kumar, Director, Neeru’s believes that exclusive stores would continue to grow with the help of loyal customers.

Reinvention is important for success

While high streets are gaining ground however, stores need to adapt to the changing retail space and attune themselves to evolving trends. E-commerce is a growing segment in the retail space and so it’s important that brick-and-mortar space is reinvented. Already, both malls and brick-and-mortar stores are trying to adapt to the changing needs of the customers.

High streets that provide high brand visibility and footfalls have had a high demand from retailers but at the same even malls which have high footfalls and are well-managed have had a high demand. Cushman & Wakefield’s report for the quarter ended 2015 has shown that across eight cities in India, rentals for malls have either remained unchanged or have gone down compared to the previous year. Only Mumbai has seen an increase in rentals in malls in the Lower Parel, Vashi and Goregaon areas. However, this is not reflective of the trend across the country which is witnessing a dip in mall occupancy.

The JLL report says their individual attributes will play a bigger role in changing the shape of each of these high streets. In fact, it foresees the beginning of a great revolution in high streets across Indian cities.