Realty shocker: Brands shy away from malls

The tricity boasts of four multiplexes-cum-malls at present — Fun Republic in Manimajra,DLF City Centre in IT Park,Uppal’s Centra Mall in Chandigarh and Shalimar Mall in Panchkula. Ironically,as many as 16 new malls and multiplexes are waiting to be launched in the region.

The Paras Downtown Mall,which claims to be the largest mall in the region with an area of 3.5 lakh square feet,was opened on January 21 and boasts of only three brands besides an anchor store. “In the coming week,five more brands and several others by this month-end would open their outlets here,” claimed Pradeep Rai,Brand Manager,Paras Build-Call Private Limited,Gurgaon. Around 45 more brands have already signed up but Rai was unable to disclose when these would be opened.

In the hope of a revival,some builders have stopped offering shops on sale but are leasing them out. “We are not offering any outlet on sale but only on leasehold and rent as many retail brands did not show keen interest in buying space. Of the hundred shops that are available,many brands have already moved into the mall,” said R K Aggarwal,Managing Director,Shalimar Mall,not revealing the number of outlets sold. Paras Downtown Mall is also not offering any units for sale at the moment. 

“Every mall has a gestation period and we are going through such a phase. The response to our commercial project has been good but due to the current market slowdown,there has been a decrease in the activity,” said Balwant Singh Arora,Head Sales (Chandigarh branch) of Uppal’s. The commercial project of the company in Chandigarh,Centra Mall,was inaugurated in July last year. Till now,only 20 brands have opened their outlets while remaining 34 remain unoccupied.

The condition is no different at the DLF City Centre Mall,which is spread over a built-up area of 1.9 lakh square feet. Developers admit that the rates have witnessed a decline in the last few months. At malls where space is usually available with a mix of lease,rent and sale,the rate varies from Rs 16,000 to Rs 30,000 per square foot for sale and Rs 50 to Rs 225 per square feet for lease,depending upon the floor and the location. “A slight drop in the rates is there which otherwise was on escalation till a few months ago,” said a salesperson dealing with one of these malls.