The trendsetter

Opened in October 1997,the market caught everyone’s fancy with its escalators and elevators. And the surprising element for them was lifts which could carry cars and other vehicles to the parking lot situated on the rooftop of the building.

According to a few old-timers,three enterprising city businessmen Maan Singh,Preetam Singh Bhatia and Gurpreet Singh Bhinder joined hands to set up a state-of-the-art multi-storey shopping complex in place of an obsolete nursery and some adjoining land which was being used by tipplers and drug addicts.

Preetam Singh Bhatia,founder secretary of the AC market,said initially they had planned to set up an exclusive market for wholesale cloth merchants. “We had purchased around 6,600 square yards and heard about Gupreet Singh Bhinder,who had set up a similar market in Patiala. After seeing the Patiala market which was set up in late 1980s,we gave this project to Bhinder and today we are happy as the market is running successfully,” Bhatia added.

These entrepreneurs adopted and replicated the Patiala market’s design and came up a market bigger in the city.

For quite a while,the market had become a picnic spot with people thronging the building for amusement and recreation.

Sunil Comrade,a journalist,who has seen this market since its foundation stone was laid,said,“The market not only flourished but also provided direct and indirect employment to nearly 1,000 people. Though with the coming of the mall and multiplex culture,the market has lost its sheen,but it was definitely a trendsetter.”