Mall Culturea
A prime location makes a lot of difference to the brand.
Having taken up a retail franchise of a brand, the next step forward for the
franchisee is to look for an appropriate location. Mall Culturea High streets or shopping
malls are considered to be the best locations to have an outlet of a franchised
brand.
However, there is an increase in opening of large numbers of
retail franchised outlets in the malls. As per the facts, there will be a total
of 90 million sq.ft of retail space available in India from 600 malls by 2010. Mall Culturea According to Anand Dutta, Head Retail, Pune, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, “The
process of taking up an outlet in a mall or in a high street is almost the same
for the company owned outlet, franchised outlets or a stand alone. Mall Culturea In case of
malls, the mall developers decide retail and brand mix in his mall. So, it is
up to him to decide whether he wants any particular brand to have an outlet in
a mall or not. He always tries to specify in the agreement through a letter
that the franchised outlet taken on rent in mall is particularly for a specific
brand.”
The franchisee is advised to maintain good understanding
with the franchisor before signing a franchise agreement. Mall Culturea In case, the
franchise agreement gets terminated or the brand does not perform well for one
reason or the other, then franchisee has to take the permission from the mall
developer to start selling some new brand from the same store in the mall.
Clarifying the above Dutta explains, “If such a situation
arises then there are two options available to the franchisee. Mall Culturea One is to give
back the possession of the store that he had taken on lease for some specific
time period. Second, the franchisee can take up a franchise of another brand
which is acceptable to the mall developer to sell that brand from that store.”
Since past few years there has been an increasing demand of
taking up an outlet in malls by the franchisees. Higher conversion rates and
decent amount of footfalls are some of the attributes to it. Mall Culturea Also, Dutta
informs, “The trend today is to go in for malls because malls provide security
to the store operator in terms of convenience of shopping enjoyed by the
consumers under one roof, malls serve as one stop shopping destination,
convenience of parking, and the existence of food courts.”
When asked about the various categories of brands taking up
space in a mall, Dutta informs, “Apparel, footwear and F&B are the
prominent categories having franchised outlets in malls.”
Comparing the rentals
Dutta highlights, “The rentals in malls are quite comparative
to rentals in high streets. But store operators do not mind paying some extra
bucks for all the comfort, facilities and convenience that the malls provide.
The facilities like common area, ambience, parking area, no tension of
maintenance takes the mall rentals to the higher side.”
Minimum guarantee and
revenue sharing models
The increase in the vacancy in malls is rising due to
slowdown and high rentals. The increase in vacancy has further lead to
correction in the mall rentals. Mall Culturea Correction is followed by renegotiation that
incorporates minimum guarantee and revenue sharing models for the franchisees
and retailers. Large numbers of mall developers are following these models to
attract more and more retailers and franchisors to open their outlets in malls.
It works for both the retailers and mall developers. Mall Culturea There is a huge amount of
retail space lying vacant in malls. To utilise this space for better and to
make some money out of it mall developers are offering revenue sharing and
minimum guarantees to the retailers.
Gone are the days when people had to buy different things
from different places. People would visit local Kirana stores for purchasing
daily-required household materials, and go to some other local markets for
buying clothes. Mall Culturea Shopping was never as convenient for people as it is now. The
shopper gets the experience of one stop shop. From apparels to FMCG goods, the
consumer gets leisure time visiting malls. Each store offers an individual a
wide variety be it for choosing a stationery pen or a laptop. Mall Culturea One of the
reasons for the existence of mall culture is globalization. Products and brands
from various places, cultures and communities are under one roof.
We have a prospect of shopping unveiled before us. Mall Culturea The mall is also hybrid in
another sense, it is a place for shopping and of social interaction. It is not
uncommon to see the mall’s spaces transformed into spaces of youth culture,
with youngsters meeting friends for an evening. A lot of space in the malls is
occupied by food courts and entertainment zones where people of all age groups
come to eat, drink, chill and relax. All this adds to the footfall in the
malls. Mall Culturea Food courts in malls provide a wide range of options which represent the
global village of food culture. One can choose from Chinese, Italian, Indian or
Mexican the list is endless. Malls, have either cinemas, game space or spas for
leisure and recreation. Mall Culturea In fact it can be argued that shopping is only one of
the several purposes of a mall and leisure is central to its very structure,
style and organization. Leisure shopping i.e. pleasure shopping for non
essentials is an important aspect of the mall culture .A stroll through the
mall which might lead to an actual purchase is about the pleasure of the stroll
of spectacle and secure environment. The constant pipe of the music is part of
the malls attempt to ensure that we see it as space of relaxation and leisure.
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