All under the same roof!

When you plan to repair, redecorate or furnish your home next time, you don’t have to run from Chandni Chowk market to New Market in search of the right furniture, the right shades of paint or even the artificial plants that you may want to put in the nooks and corners of your house. All you need to do is just walk into a single mall and shop anything and everything that you might need to give your home a new face. These new-age malls, offering a specialised line of goods and services, have finally hit Kolkata.
Apart from a full-fledged wedding mall which came up in the city recently, quite a few of these niche malls are in the pipeline. These include malls exclusively for jewellery, household goods, furnishing and interiors and even books.
According to real estate developer Sushil Mohta, these new malls are slated to have a cutting edge over the other traditional malls as the former will offer specialised products, services and facilities which will make shopping a completely different experience. "These malls will be one-stop destinations for a specific line of products. There will be libraries, internet cafes to browse, talk shows and panel discussions by experts, exhibitions and even more innovative ways of displaying products," said Mohta.
So, if there are feng shui and vaastu experts in the mall advising customers how to build the perfect home, there would be gemologists at the service of prospective buyers to inform them about the quality of gold and precious stones.
Real estate agents, however, unanimously agree that with this new kind of malls coming up in Kolkata, mall developers have to constantly upgrade themselves to generate more footfall in the face of stiff competition in the long run. "The consumer has become more discerning and willing to spend money, and there is a growing demand for greater product variety and a better shopping experience. This is where speciality shops and malls are scoring over traditional malls," said real estate agent Pritam Samaddar. With the mall mania just picking up momentum in the city and people gradually becoming mall hoppers, all-under-one-roof retailing is likely to catch up in some time.
Entrepreneur Rahul Saraf agreed that these new generation malls are a step ahead of the current stock of malls which cater to all segments of customers without specialization. "These are going to be the new destinations malls which will look after the specific needs and wants of the customers," said Saraf.
Besides Kolkata, which is gradually waking up to these state-of-the-art malls, Mumbai is on the verge of opening up a chain of jewellery malls. Speciality gold and home-building malls are already a known phenomenon in Gurgaon and Delhi, which kickstarted the trend.
Developers also believe that the responsibility towards the customer is much more in these new ventures. "The thrust is on adding more value to the products and services. It’s not just about going to a shopping mall and picking up stuff. The malls have to back it up with proper guidance, adequate resources in terms of providing wider variety and dissemination of user-specific information for the benefit of the customers," added Mohta.
madhurima.nandy@timesgroup.com