Description
Malls Take the Added Responsibility of Safety & Hygiene
Barring the last one year, the year 2020 marks the end of a successful decade for the Shopping Centre industry. A lot has changed for the industry in the last 10 years. The operational mall tally in India crossed the 600 mark, bringing with it, many new investors, making India the new ‘it’ retail destination. The mall culture, which was earlier only limited to Tier I cities, made successful inroads into Tier II and beyond. With better infrastructure available -near home, Tier II and beyond are no longer rushing to big cities for all their shopping needs. Cities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have witnessed malls of total built up areas of more than one million sq ft (and mostly premium malls) which are comparable to world class malls.
The year also saw some of the unprecedented challenges in the form COVID-19, hitting the industry very hard. As shopping malls witnessed a shutdown for a period of seventy days and more in some cases, mall developers faced grave difficulties in every aspect –including renting, leasing, manpower, job loss and resources.
Fortunately, while the beginning of the year posed a major setback for the Indian economy, the end saw a lift in business and revenues, indicating a new hope, a new dawn and a new vision for the industry in the new year.
In this final edition of the year, we bring you coverage on ‘how malls have taken on a new responsibility’ of making sure the efforts initiated by them will add more value and well being for their patrons and staff. The edition also brings its readers a feature on how malls are celebrating the festival season, keeping their spirits high, with COVID safety measures in place, marking the revival of footfalls and revenue. We also welcome 2021 and pray that it brings with it a new hope along with new concepts, technologies and innovations for the shopping mall industry, globally and in India.
