Top-end brands descend on Chandigarh

The middle class in Chandigarh was taken aback when Uppal group announced the four bedroom luxury apartments in the Mansa Devi complex for one crore thirty one lakh and fifteen thousand rupees.

One year down the line, when the flats are in the final stage of completion, there is no dearth of takers.

According to J S Bahri, marketing director of Uppal Housing, not only the local buyers but the buyers across the borders are also keen to own property in Chandigarh. "Our model flat will be ready in March and we expect to sell all 165 flats in a short span," he said.

The expansion of corporate sector and IT sector, to some extent has been a driving force in propelling consumerism in the region.

Nonetheless, the boom in realty has brought rich dividends to the traders dealing in premium segment products.

A leading automobile trader, Krishna Automobile sought the dealership of BMW, a pure luxury car that would be launched in the second week of March. The dealer of Krishna Automobile, Sachit Passi told Business Standard that though they had not started marketing of the product, they still had 19 bookings in hand.

"The burgeoning margins in property transactions in the last two years expanded the market for the luxury car segment and we have been selling about 100 Skoda Octavia and about 12 Skoda Superb in a month," he said.

According to Passi, BMW is brand for those who are still creating wealth and the highly paid corporate executives can easily afford it on EMI (equal monthly installments) with the facility of bank credit.

Yashovardhan Saboo, chief executive officer of Ethos, a brand known for its exquisite range of wrist watches said market for luxury watches was growing by about 30 per cent.

"There is a change in consumer behaviour as buyers now want to replace the old collection with a new, more expensive range. A new segment is also coming up with a choice of more unique and offbeat brands," said Saboo.

Saboo acknowledged the increasing market of the farming community in Punjab. The launch of coffee bar Mocha that aims only at the elite market, Score- a nightclub for niche market in Chandigarh and the expansion of premium apparel brands in the tier-II cities of Punjab is a true reflection of the transformation of consumer behaviour.