Foreign brands struggle to find space in Indian malls

A CBRE South Asia study has revealed that India has more than 300 shopping malls, but only around 24 have been identified as

successful, including DLF Emporio, High Street Phoenix, DLF Promenade, Select Citywalk, to name a few. Select Citywalk, for example, is currently 98 percent occupied. Its tenants include Mango, Zara, Aldo, Sephora and Tommy Hilfiger. And it is currently in talks with foreign brands like H&M, slated to open its first Indian store by mid-2015.

Malls are now asking non-performing retailers to vacate space for new entrants as fashion savvy Indian consumers seek foreign brands. Even brands eyeing premium space are ready to pay a premium price. Phoenix City, located in Mumbai, for instance is looking forward to welcoming 20 new retailers at the mall in the next three months.

The space crunch in premium malls is expected to get worse with American labels like Gap and Children’s Place and Japanese label Uniqlo ready to foray into the country, and existing labels looking at expanding their footprint. While studying 317 leading global brands across segments and regions, CBRE found out that reasons like restrictions in foreign investment in multi-brand retail and lack of quality real estate have prevented over 39 percent of global retailers such as 7Eleven, Costco and FamilyMart from entering India. Out of the 317 labels, it researched only 196 are currently operational in India.