Amidst heatwave, holidays & powercuts, City malls offer cool refuge

The Met’s recent heatwave alert for Kolkata and its neighbouring are as has led locals to turn to multiplexes, restaurants and in-mall activities to keep cool. Students and young adults most of whom are in the middle of a summer vacation or post-exam break are spending time in gaming areas, theatres or in-mall eateries.

HIGHER FOOTFALL IN GAMING ZONES
Parents are taking their kids to in-mall gaming zones to help them stay cooler and engaged amid summer breaks.“Our play zone (for toddlers) and gaming zone (for older kids or young adults) have registered a 20 % increase during the weekdays and a 30% increase in footfall during weekends from 11 am to 3 pm and again
in the evening, with a corresponding hike in sales,” said K Vijayan, General Manager, Acropolis Mall. Man Mohan
Bagree, Vice President, of South City Group, shared, “Compared to May, the last seven days have seen a slight
surge in footfall overall.”
AN UPTICK IN WALK-INS IN FINE DINERS
Upscale diners located within malls are witnessing a spike in customers, especially since people don’t want to step out in the heat to eat. “There has been an 8% rise in footfall in most of our restaurants in Quest Mall. The fact that we’re located inside a mall helps since people can drop by for drinks and dinner before heading home and parking is also not an issue,” said Ritesh Basu of Global Kitchens Kolkata.

It’s the holiday season, and besides children’s movies, a lot of regional and Hindi movies are running in theatres. And we’ve seen a growth in footfall.
– AmitavaGuha Thakurta,Regional Director,PVR INOX Ltd
We have done backend engineering to keep the machines functioning effectively, there are special arrangements to keep the cooling tower cool.
– Man Mohan Bagree, Vice President, South City Group
We hold a variety of fun events like drawing competitions on weekends and then there’s our popular car rides and joy train ride attractions.
– K Vijayan, General Manager, Acropolis Mall