Fashion, electronics fast replacing department stores as anchors in malls

Malls keeping close tab on the performance of the brands and re-sizing spaces

Fashion apparel and electronics are fast replacing department stores as anchor tenants inside malls.

Inorbit Mall, Hyderabad which reduced the size of the hypermarket on the lower ground floor has created an atrium and leased the space to brands such as Being Human, Ritu Kumar, Vero Moda and Starbucks.

"Many malls are making conscious efforts to place fashion retail outlets across apparel, footwear, and accessories segments together on the ground floor to appeal to the affluent customers," said a recent report by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

"Fading popularity of home grown department stores which were once synonymous with evolving mall culture in early 2000s are now paving the way to accommodate other poular brands in different segments as mall owners are re-sizing the huge spaces amassed by vanilla stores to attract the new age global brands," said the report.

Malls such as Select City Walk are keeping a close tab on the performance of the brands and re-sizing the spaces depending on the sales activity, availability and demand for brands with high revenue potential, it said.

Malls are also leasing prime ground floor spaces to food and beverages outlets due to heavy demand from shoppers, the study said.

Increasing the range of cuisine offered in different formats such as fine dine dining, casual dining and quick service restaurants to premium resto bars to sports bars and bakeries are the new concepts introduced recently.