MAN MOHAN BAGREE ON SOUTH CITY MALL — THEN & NOW

“When South City Mall opened in 2008, it was a tough time getting big brands to Calcutta because they were not ready. Yet we successfully opened with brands like Marks & Spencer, Guess, Next, Accessorize, Planet Retail and Rocia.

Today, Calcutta is in sixth position for most brands (behind Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune). But now, a US apparel and footwear brand like Timberland has opened its second country outlet in Calcutta at South City. In the past too, major brands such as Marks & Spencer, Guess, Next and Aftershock, were brought to the city by South City Mall as their third or fourth country outlets.

I feel Calcutta is still not ready for a lot of brands in terms of shopping power and mindset. It’s not a forward city like Delhi where people change their wardrobe every 15 days. And the ‘party people’ of the city travel so often that they shop outside. So our brief to a new client is to stock their shop with trendy basics initially. For example, even the merchandise of Forever New, though it is party and evening-wear, is subtle as compared to its collection in Delhi or Mumbai.

How do we decide which brand to bring in? After understanding what retail requires. And retail requires aspiration. Unless a customer aspires, he won’t move. For example, a Bata customer, after a while, might like to upgrade to a Rocia or a Metro. So the right mix of brands is important for the customer to upgrade. Which is why a five-year-strong brand at the mall needs to be promoted but at the same time we have to get a new crowd into the mall with entry-level brands.

The brand that Calcutta is asking for now? Zara (fashion brand for men, women and children)! And, they’re eager to come here. We’ll have to wait and watch.”

Text: Karo Christine Kumar
Pictures: Pabitra Das

(Bagree is vice-president, South City Projects, and has been with the Prince Anwar Shah Road mall right from its construction stage)