(From top): Eastern India’s largest Levi’s store, Little Shop’s third outlet in town and Reebok’s latest flagship model. Pictures by Sanat Kr Sinha

Shop for groceries at Spencer’s Hyper, find the right jeans at Levi’s or sip some of Costa Coffee brew. If entertainment is what you want, give yourself a jolt at Horror House or have a multiplex experience with a difference at Imax. Tuck into McDonald’s burgers before partying the night away in the nightclub above it….

l this and more at Calcutta’s latest hangout and shopping destination Mani Square, the “global supermall” on the E.M. Bypass, beside Apollo Hospital. The 710,000 sq ft mall offers shopping, entertainment, dining and banqueting options.

The anchor store on the ground floor is McDonald’s, taking much of the space at the front of the mall. And even though not many other stores have opened yet, Big Mac has already started drawing crowds to the Bypass destination.

“When I first saw the layout with McDonald’s in the front and a music store beside it, I was not convinced. But now I see the point. The idea is to draw people and then let them discover the mall bit by bit,” said Lou Armstrong, COO, Mani Square.

As you enter the mall, Westside is spread across three floors. On the left is the Costa Coffee counter, the first presence for the European cafe chain in Calcutta. “There is a cafe on every floor. If the first floor has Costa, the floors above have Cookie Man, Biscotti, Aqua Java and others. Cookie Man is introducing its ice cream counter at Mani Square,” explained Subesh Ray, vice president, Mani Square. Also on the ground floor are three watch brands — Tissot, Rado and Omega.

The first floor has apparel stores for men and brands like Pepe, Benetton and Zodiac. The next floor has apparels for women and Eye Catchers, the salon.

Cookie Man introduces its ice cream counter

The next level has eZone, the electronic appliances store from the Pantaloons stable, the three screens from Cinemax, a multiplex chain, and another one from Imax. “Imax will be a completely new experience for the city. It has 3D effects, shaky chairs and much more to make the viewing of movies like Spider-Man much more real. Plus there is the Horror House, the Indian version of Scary House,” said Armstrong.

The fourth floor will have the food court, restaurants and a nightclub. “The Singaporean restaurant Mozzarella comes to India for the first time. Rajdhani Thali comes to Calcutta for the first time. Plus there will be Flame & Grill and Haka from the stable of Speciality Restaurants. The food court has 17 counters that pretty much cover every kind of cuisine. Shack, the night club, also comes from Speciality Restaurants,” explained Ray.

The basement has a Spencer’s Hyper spread across 60,000 sq ft, super built-up area. This will take up 90 per cent of the basement area, with small budget and utility stores covering the rest.

Costa Coffee opens at the mall and (above) the interiors of Mani Square on the E.M. Bypass. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

This is just the retail segment of Mani Square. The business section in the rear of the building has a number of ready office spaces that will be rented out.

There are also three well-appointed banquet halls, one of which is open air and offers a great view of Salt Lake and the surrounding areas.

The Mani Square authorities also plan to have regular events at the mall to keep its offering fresh. “Our events for the next one year are planned. We will have exhibitions and weekend flea markets,” said Ray.

Given its location on a busy highway, the mall is investing Rs 5 crore to build two footbridges across the Bypass so pedestrians don’t have to negotiate the busy roads to enter the mall.

With an eye on safety, window cleaners will be trained to handle emergencies. “We are getting experts from Amsterdam to train them in hip-level rope access techniques. This will help them pull themselves up and down along a rope, so there will be some trained hands available for rescue in case of emergencies. During kids’ parties or when there is a crowd, these guys will wear Spider-Man costumes and shimmy up the rope for some added entertainment,” smiled Armstrong.

The mall is expected to be fully operational by mid-July.

People speak

“Not many stores have opened yet, but yeah it does show promise. Till now City Centre is everyone’s favourite mall. But this one is also close to home,” say Captain Suman Choudhury, Bhaskar Bhasin and Rahul.

“This one is quite impressive. As of now my favourite mall is South City. It has good brands,” says Natasha Khanna, a housewife.

The approach road to this mall is bad. City Centre is my favourite. But this place will have better grocery options once Spencer’s Hyper opens. You also have McDonald’s here. But there are not many places to just sit and laze. You have to come, shop and move out. It’s a little boxed in. City Centre has more space,” say Nidhi Soni and Archana Anand, IT professionals

“City Centre is better. It has more space. But we will come here too. This has different brands. And the location by the Bypass is interesting,” say Shibaji Chatterjee and Arundhati Hom Choudhury, singers.