Whose fault is it, I wondered, when I entered this iconic
location last weekend. The Mall was nearly empty on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Car Parking area, which is the core identity of any Mall or Shopping centre
such as a Retail Store or a Hypermarket was barely full, with a few cars parked
intermittently.
The ground floor has a Mercedes Benz Car parked in the
atrium, with curious onlookers not even sure if they would like to go closeby.
Basics, which has won the hearts of Chennaites being a local brand with an
International appeal has shut store. And so have so many stores. Lifestyle Department Store, the Anchor store of the Mall
wears a dull look. The security guard at the entrance seems unhappy and bored
with almost no visitors for a while. Even some of the food outlets and a café
which were doing some basic business seem to be shut. I walked up the Escalator
and was surprised to see empty stores all over!
The Foodcourt was the saddest. Half the counters were shut.
The one or two who were functioning were neither providing tasty food nor were
bothered about customer service. They were just serving a need, of thirst and
hunger and nothing beyond. The dining areas was hardly populated, with many
tables not even having chairs, forget patrons. Those who were having a meal
were merely passersby and I couldn’t notice even a few of them with shopping
bags.
McDonalds continues to attract crowds, perhaps the brand
pull makes all the difference. The play area did have some crowds, but not
sustainable to send them to other parts of the mall.
Inox Multiplex with half a dozen screens was barely empty,
with 4 new releases this week. That food prices in the canteen area of Inox is
a put off is another blog column by itself! Even then, people should come to
watch a movie in the weekend? That was also not to be seen.
Despite being in the centre of the city (and hence its
name), why is the mall so empty? What went wrong with the Mall which was once
the pride of Chennai? A decade back, rental costs in the mall used to hover
around Rs. 180-300 per sft. Now there are hardly any takers. Retailers have
shunned the mall. Food Outlets, which would anyway attract crowds and make some
decent revenues seem to dislike being in the Mall. Whose fault is it anyway? Is
it that the customers walked away from the Mall to bigger and better options
such as Express Avenue Mall which is about 5 kms away? Or have they gone
farther to the likes of Phoenix Market city or Vijaya Forum Mall?
This Mall has huge potential given its location,
a stone’s throw from the Marina Beach and easy access from the rest of South
Madras. It has enough parking space for shoppers, enough shopping space,
cinema, foodcourt, play areas, what not. With a little bit of effort, this Mall
can be turned around. Will the authorities get a good consultant and work in
the renovation? Time will tell.
