Fighting Back

For the past few months,a cloud has enveloped all the ritzy malls in the Capital.

For the past few months,a cloud has enveloped all the ritzy malls in the Capital. The crowd of shoppers has dwindled,branded ware is piled up on the shelves and almost everyday brings news of a store shutting. At Square One mall,however,storeowners have decided not to take the economic downturn lying down. Armed with innovation and a fancy marketing deal,the mall in Saket is repositioning itself so as to make the best of a bad financial period.

The luxury mall that opened in August 2006 has seen footfalls dipping and the current occupancy rate is 70 per cent. The mall boasts outlets by designers Rohit Bal,Suneet Varma,Anju Modi,Neeru Kumar and Anita Dongre among other high-end labels. Now,15 tenants such as Anila Bal from designer Rohit Bals store,Shibani Chawla of Chawla Art Gallery and jeweller Gaurav Khanna of Gem Legacy have come together to form a Square One Mall Marketing Association to refashion the look of the mall. In the current scenario,what matters is who can provide better services. We want to go back to the time the mall saw a footfall of 90 per cent. We have begun targeting frequent shoppers, says developer Purshottam Bhaggeria of the mall.

One of the first things the association suggested was to develop the atrium so that it becomes a magnet for fashionable shoppers. An atrium is a nerve centre of the mall. The atrium already has a cosy seating arrangement and were developing it further with new engagement points like coffee and sandwich outlets, says Khanna. Recently,paintings by two childrens NGOs were put up at the atrium.

Square One already has one major attraction Tabula Rasa,a trendy resto-bar on the fourth floor that is currently being upgraded. Owner Sohrab Sitaram adds that the scanty footfalls havent affected his business. Tabula Rasa started as a snobbish restaurant. We wish a niche clientele only, says Sitaram.

To celebrate Fathers Day on June 21,the association will launch a scheme of chequebook-format vouchers valued at Rs 50,000. It contains discounts offered by all the stores that total up to Rs 50,000. The validity is for two months, says Khanna,confident that the vouchers will be a draw even with elite crowds. The chequebook would enable a shopper a discount of Rs 3,000 on any purchase in Rohit Bals boutique. The idea is to get in more business. Though,a high end store such as ours has its own clientele,sales promotions are always a help, says Anila,Rohit Bals sister-in-law.

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