Looking for a one-stop destination for your festive shopping? Well, mark The AC Market on your weekend calendar. Clothes to accessories, decor items to edible gifts, the landmark shopping centre on Shakespeare Sarani has plenty to offer. The AC Market Apna Utsav, in association with t2, is a shopping carnival spread over three-and-a-half months, which is on till December 31.
Apart from the shopping, added attractions include face painting, caricature artists and a nail art set-up. The best feature? Those shopping for Rs 1,000 will receive a lucky draw coupon, with winners announced every Saturday. The prize? Ten lucky winners get 10 vouchers worth Rs 500 each, which can be reimbursed at The AC Market. “There are families that have been shopping with us across generations, and this is just something special for them and for others as well,” said Ankit Agarwal, a member of the Apna Utsav committee.
OLD IS GOLD: A rainy day without a cup of coffee, a cupcake without icing, Durga Puja without shopping. Unthinkable and incomplete. The ongoing festival at The AC Market guarantees retail therapy with added sales and discounts. Anup Agarwal, owner of menswear store Impressions, gives us some lesser known facts about The AC Market...
♦ Easy to spot because of its tall, white facade, the 44-year-old shopping centre on Shakespeare Sarani is apparently “the first air-conditioned market in India”, and hence the name.
♦ The market boasts of about 250 shops that “sell everything under the sun”. Home to stores such as Aprajita (homeware), Ram’s (watches) and Central Store (stationery and kitchenware), it also has the first Manyavar outlet. So if you are hankering for a dressy sherwani and a big-dial watch to go with it, the market has it all.
♦ There’s no morphing into a hangry (hungry+angry, ya!) shopper. The AC Market has a brand-new hangout spot, Cafe One, in the first basement. It serves light bites like Pyaaz Ki Kachori, Mattar Ki Puri, and Stuffed Dhokla, along with Italian and Mexican fare.
COMING UP:
This Saturday, the star cast of Srijit Mukherji’s October 7 release Zulfiqar (below) will drop in at The AC Market around 4pm. There will be live music on the occasion. At 2pm, there will be a singing competition with participants selected from a promotion run on Facebook.
Text: Shimona Bagul
Pictures: Arnab Mondal and B. Halder
