Success and failure statistics of malls in India during the past few years indicate that not all the malls are successful. New culture of mall that has crept inside Indian retail is not going to survive long if corrective measures are not taken up. Pallavi Majha explores the issue

Amere mention of the word, 'mall' suggests lots of things like shopping, varieties of food, movies and entertainment.  With the beginning of the 21st century, establishment of malls started in the country translating aspirations of lifestyles of metropolis and big cities. Piramal Holdings presented the first full-fledged mall, a 1.5 lakh sq.ft-centre to the people of Mumbai in 1999. Brand Super Mall of Sahara was set up in 2001 in an area of 3.89 acre on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Delhi. Concept of retail space and infrastructure changes with time. In India, this change is, at present, taking place very fast, at least in urban areas. New forms of retailing have already set in taking over the traditional ones. Transformed and in the process of further transformation, the retail space in India has, today, a new appearance and greater range of activities and facilities. There has been a sharp rise in the number of new formats, especially malls and, this speaks for their popularity  one mall in 1999 to 158 in 2005 to 600 in 2010. Although, business logistics of a mall ensure that, over time, shopping preference for consumers in a mall would go for high investment and more expensive product categories, small retail stores at the corner will continue for they provide all the daily consumptions that a family needs. With glitz and glamour, malls do end up selling the lifestyle, high-end and expensive products. But the basic necessities would continue to be purchased and sourced from local corner stores.

Origin, growth of Indian malls
Development of malls in India started only about a decade ago. Which formats of retail did precede malls? Giving a comment on chronological sequence of retail space developments, Mr Anuj Puri, MD, Trammel Crow Meghraj says, “Historically, the stand-alone next-door shop was first. Then, the chain stores and departmental stores came next. Now, India is being swept away by malls. Before the dust has settled, theme malls or specialty malls will entrench themselves.”  Mall is, not doubt, the trend-setting format of the hour. Consequently, developers have been focusing their business on building malls. “In India, every real estate major is making waves in the mall market. Not only do malls provide their customers a complete shopping experience with immaculately designed and spacious showroom spaces, they also offer an entertainment experience with multiplexes and food court. With non-availability of quality space at affordable prices in the cities, India is now following the US trend of providing multi-activity mixed used centres on national highways, where plenty of space is available”, says Mr Puri. Sharing this opinion regarding the growth of malls in India, Mr Gibson Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India, says, “The growth of malls started in India long ago with the advent of 'shopping complexes' where the entire structure assumed a 'build and sell' real estate model. Since late '90s, the actual 'mall' format has been founded  a format, which only leases out spaces and manages the mall mix with a professional mall management team.” Giving also information on success and achievement of malls, he adds, “This has led many retailing companies to look at malls as good retail destinations. Over the last few years, malls in India have been very successful as many of them can compare themselves with those in developed economies and these have contributed to the growth of modern retailing in India giving even global brands the promise of good 'retailable' space in India.” Estimates reveal that Delhi and its suburbs have seen growth of 100 bigger and smaller malls. Around 600 new malls are also coming up in other metros and large townships in which the retail business is projected at less than 35 per cent.”