It is good time again for malls,multiplexes

Anshu Mathur,General Manager,Himalaya Mall in Ahmedabad,said,“We have seen an increase of footfalls by more than 25 per cent. The sale has also increased compared to the last month.”

“People in Gujarat want value for money. Discounts are also attracting a lot of buyers to the malls. Moreover,the rising stock market is also one of the reasons for improved sales,” said Mathur.

Indranil Banerji,a retail analyst and General Manager of 10 Acre Mall,Ahmedabad,said,“The increase in the footfall has been anywhere between 15 and 17 per cent. In the last six to seven months,impulsive buying was almost restricted at the malls. But now,the season-end sale has been able to give a start required for impulsive buying.”

“We are positive as a long festive season is waiting to begin,” he said.

The businessmen who had temporarily put brakes on their multiplex projects in Vadodara and other parts of the state are back on the front. Since the issues with the films producers have been sorted out and big budget movies are releasing almost every second week,the multiplex owners are investing in the properties.

Ashok Purohit,president,All Gujarat Multiplex Association,said,“After a lull,the multiplex builders are now coming forward. The occupancy rate was down to some extent because of slowdown,but it was negligible. Now the occupancy is good because of good movies. In fact,people were not coming to theatres as there were no good movies.”

For instance,Fame (I) Ltd on Friday announced the opening of its property in Vadodara with luxury concept as its USP. Rishi Negi,chief operating officer of Fame (I) Ltd,said Vadodara Fame,which will be the fourth project of Fame Cinemas in Gujarat will take over four to five years to complete. Fame has its presence in Surat,Bharuch,and Anand in Gujarat.

“The plans are under negotiation for having property in Ahmedabad and Rajkot,too,” said Negi. “People in Gujarat are known to try out good things in life especially those having good value for money. So,we have introduced the concept of luxury cinema for the first time,” he said.

As gold prices go up,jewellers bank on discounts to boost sales

The discount offers are everywhere; from malls,to hotels and even the neighbourhood grocery shop to encourage buying. And now the gold and diamond jewellery makers are the latest to join the discount bandwagon.

With gold prices continuing to go upwards,the jewellers are cutting costs on the making charges which vary from Rs 150 to Rs 350 per gram of gold depending on the design.

Market sources said the sale of gold jewellery has gone down by nearly 25 per cent this year as compared to 2008-2009.

“The sale of jewellery has gone down because of several reasons including high gold prices and slowdown in the economy. Usually the gold price is the first to go down and the last to pick up,” said Ketan Chokshi,director of Narayan Jewellers. He added,“People have also started investing in raw gold or bullion rather than going for jewellery as they can sell it anywhere.” Pradeep Chandrana of CH Jewellers in Vadodara said,”The designs go out of fashion very fast. If we don’t give discounts,the designs will not be acceptable anymore. Different designs have different making charges and therefore we can afford to lose out on margin money to some extent on such designs.”

Balvant Badani,the president of the Rajkot Gold Dealers Association,said,“Instead of 75 per cent to 80 per cent sales last year,this time the sale of gold jewellery has gone down to just 15 to 20 per cent. The low-cost imitation jewellery sale has increased.”

Gold prices in February this year touched an all-time high of over Rs16,000 per 10 gram. It currently hovers around Rs 15,000 to Rs 15,500.