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Fun way to shop, one-stop
The new plazas are snazzy and designed for maximum appeal.
IT'S A concept that has taken its time to catch on in the capital city. After years of hesitation, city folks are slowly realising the advantages of shopping plazas over conventional markets.
With a string of shopping complexes sprouting up in the commercial areas and customers dropping their inhibitions to go window-shopping, the retail trade has never had it so good. And window-dressing has emerged as an art that has the potential to lure shoppers and send the cash registers ringing.
``There was a time when setting up shop in a complex meant a dead investment. Shoppers would just drop into an outlet on the ground floor and depart without even glancing at the upper floors.
But things have definitely changed,'' says a trader at one of the shopping arcades frequented by middle class consumers.
Today, a plaza means a one-stop shop for customers who do not have the time or the inclination to drive around the city through dense traffic, he says, adding that business is booming.
While the earlier plazas were marked by dull, ill-lit corridors, dusty interiors and dirty premises, the new ones incorporate design inputs for maximum appeal including granite flooring, capsule lift, glass facade, indoor plants and even lawns to lend a touch of green.
As consumers increasingly opt for the shopping-under-one- roof experience, eateries, jewelleries, stationery marts, beauty saloons, provision stores, medical shops, Net browsing centres, studios, duty paid outlets, book marts and car accessory shops jostle for space with offices and business establishments in the upmarket shopping arcades.
Customers vouch for the convenience of shopping in a plaza without the hassle of elbowing through a crowded market.
So while papa looks up the latest in formal wear or pops into the beauty saloon for a quick hair-do, mama can complete her shopping at the department store and find time to pamper the kids at the ice- cream parlour next door.
Traders admit that many of the purchases at shopping plazas are impulse decisions prompted by catchy displays to appeal to the shopper's whims. Colourful stickers, festoons, bargain deals and a whole range of sales gimmicks are employed to lure customers.
City planners aver that shopping complexes are an inevitable outcome of the need for vertical development of the city in view of the acute space crunch.A large number of shops in the commercial areas which were edged out following the widening of major roads in the city found it expedient to relocate themselves in commercial blocks.
The multi-storied parking plazas to be built by the City Corporation at six locations along the MG Road will accommodate shopping centres to bring down the period for recovery of investment.
Traders are optimistic that this move would help to further boost the retail business.
T Nandakumar
Photo: S. Gopakumar
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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