Pantaloons shuts shop at High Street Phoenix; makes way for Zara

Bad news for regular visitors to Pantaloons at High Street Phoenix. Today, the branded apparel player owned by Aditya Birla Group is downing its shutters to make way for Zara. In April last year, Big Bazaar, owned by Future Retail moved out of Phoenix to accommodate Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M).

While Zara already anchors Palladium, adjacent to High Street Phoenix, the new store will be twice as large as around 35,000 square feet. A senior official from Pantaloons said that international brands were generating higher revenues and, therefore, are being accorded preferential treatments at malls. With the closure of the High Street Phoenix store, Pantaloons will be left with 126 stores across the country. In the last one year, the company has shut three stores in Mumbai.

Most of the country’s malls today operate on a model where they pay a minimum rent and share revenues. According to Arvind Singhal, MD, Technopak, points out international brands like H&M and Zara are able to attract footfalls and generate higher revenues, thanks to their designs and styles. Rajneesh Mahajan, Executive Director, Inorbit Malls, sys the same customer who used to shop at Lifestyle, Westside or Pantaloons now shops at Forever 21, Zara and H&M. Revenues from these international brands are higher by 20 to 25 percent per square feet compared to vanilla brands. Most global brands now have about six to a dozen stores. In the last one year, malls have had to jostle brands extensively to accommodate big ticket players such as H&M, GAP, Zara, among others. Mall developers have either relocated or resized stores of local brands who were erstwhile anchors.