Malls gear up for 25% spike in footfalls starting this festive weekend

Pune: With the festive season expected to kick off with Independence Day and Janmashtami celebrations, shopping malls in the city are anticipating a 20% to 25% increase in foot traffic starting this weekend. Malls have put in place additional manpower to prepare for crowd management and to ensure parking facilities are well managed to avoid chaos. "Malls also have various activities for children, so we will take our kids for some art and craft events. We will also get some shopping done as there are many ongoing sales," said Baner resident Darshita Makwana. "There are many new movie releases this weekend. We are planning to go for a movie and then have a good meal at the food court. It will be a nice break for the family," said Rahul Doshi, a resident of Kondhwa.Vishal Gaikwad, operations manager at Kumar Pacific Mall, said, "We have increased security personnel at the mall, and the team was also briefed on what they can do in crisis situations or emergencies. We are also trying to integrate external security cameras with police control rooms so they can monitor the situation. We are expecting 60,000 people this weekend."Festive weekends see a noticeable spike in energy and activity at the mall, said Viraj Suryawanshi, centre director at Pavillion Mall. "We typically witness double-digit growth in footfalls compared to the season average, with daily counts crossing 25,000. We deploy an intelligent mix of human vigilance, security and facility staff at every critical touchpoint, and technology such as real-time footfall monitoring and predictive crowd-flow management," said Suryawanshi. This festive season, the mall has planned a series of engaging kids' workshops, music pop-ups, and digital treasure hunts for the youth.Anshuman Bharadwaj, senior centre director at Phoenix Market City, Pune, said the mall expects a 12%-15% spike in footfall compared to last year. "We are prepared to manage high visitor numbers while maintaining guest comfort and safety. Plans include structured crowd-flow systems, optimised parking operations and additional on-ground teams during peak hours. Safety protocol will remain in full effect, and Phoenix Assist services such as porter support, hands-free shopping, and EV charging stations will be available."