A new mall in Motihari. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Motihari, Oct. 18: Smaller cities in the state are slowly but surely catching up on the booming mall culture witnessed in metropolises and big cities but it is affecting traditional retail business.

Growing engagement in day-to-day life has robbed customers in smaller cities like Motihari and Bettiah the time for getting clothes tailored and has spurred them towards readymade garments in shopping malls.

V Mart, a mega fashion mall, opened doors in Motihari on October 2. Earlier, Vishal Mega Mart had opened an attractive outlet in Dr Sharan’s Complex in March this year. Both the marts have stocked up on readymade garments since their launch and have been doing brisk business.

The Dubai-based Zakariya Group is constructing the third mall in Motihari. The building has been under construction since last year but work has recently gained pace, with an eye to open its doors at the earliest to compete with the rivals to grab a share in the market.

The two malls in business in Motihari are already fighting a pitched battle against each other, trying to lure customers of every income group with a mind-boggling array of garments and launching schemes and offers in this festive season.

Speaking on encouraging response from customers, the project manager of V Mart Ratikant Mandal said: “We have a lot to satisfy our customers, including special offers and gifts in this festive season, with a huge stock of varieties of every article of day-to-day consumption in abundance under one roof to help cater to the requirement of our new but esteemed customers.”

“The flip side of retail chain marketing is believed to be highly fatal for the larger interest of society. It has started not only affecting the business of traditional cloth merchants, professional tailors, petty entrepreneurs and small traders, but has also practically seized the right of existence from all those who are dependent on daily wages or petty business,” said a social thinker R.P. Sharma.

Over the past three-four years, outlets of branded companies like Lee Solly, Cotton County, Reebok, Koutons (with separate stores for male, female and children), Ant, Palm Treee, Lilliput, Allen Cooper, Peter England, Belmonte, Charlie Outlaw, Cantabil, Duke, Priknit, and TNG have opened doors in Motihari and Bettiah racing to attract the maximum number of customers by giving them a changed taste of living.

Madhusudan Jalan, who set up a Cantabil showroom to compensate the loss to his traditional cloth business, said: “Quality customers still favour yarns produced by reputed companies.”

Both he and Dharmveer Jaiswal, the proprietor of a Raymond’s showroom, feel that big counters suffered an annual loss of almost 30 to 35 per cent, while small cloth merchants suffered around 50 per cent because of branded showrooms and the booming mall culture.