Calcutta, May 16: With the city firmly in the grip of ‘mall-eria’, try this one for size.
The Junction, to be housed within the high-profile South City towers on Prince Anwar Shah Road, is set to unleash all of 750,000 sq ft of shopentainment on Calcuttans, come Pujas 2006.
The Rs 160-crore project, a “unique blend” of hypermart, galleria, multiplex, entertainment zone and food court, will be “eastern India’s largest” retail mall. Just to get a fix on this south Calcutta sprawl, Forum, the present favourite on Elgin Road, is 200,000 sq ft.
At The Junction, one is promised a feel of international high-street shopping with no less than four hot-shot anchors and a “synergistic mix” of vanilla tenants to fill the basket from.
One can pick the flick of choice at the six-screen cineplex, satiate sax mania at the stylish jazz bar over a sumptuous salad spread, lounge around at the 14,000-sq-ft naturally-lit atrium, or simply enjoy the hi-gloss plasma-screen façade.
“We have already tied up with three of our anchor tenants — Shoppers’ Stop, Giant (the RPG Enterprises hypermart chain) and Shringar Cinemas Pvt Ltd (for the cineplex), while talks with Lifestyle are in the concluding stages,” observes Jugal Khetawat, a director on the South City board.
While this is the first time a city mall will boast four anchors, The Junction is also keen to have “other established players” like B.C. Sen Jewellers, Himalaya Opticals, The Little Shop, Sreeleathers and Mainland China on board.
“In this era of cutting-edge competition, the idea is to make sure there are no unsuccessful retailers in the mall and that there is something in the basket for everybody,” adds Sushil Mohta, another director. The mall management feels the “essentially horizontal” nature of The Junction would be a major USP.
“Research has shown shoppers don’t mind travelling horizontally, but are hesitant about vertical movement. So, the biggest advantage in this mall will be the mammoth footplate of 150,000 sq ft on each of the G+3 floors,” says architect Dulal Mukherjee, who has fine-tuned the mall’s initial design solution provided by Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates of the US.
Twin-level basement parking for 1,300 cars, smooth and spacious driveways with proper gradient, a 550-ft roadside frontage, pleasing landscaping with waterbodies, multiple ingress and egress points, a five-metre clearance from floor to floor, a wide array of fine-dining options are all “winning features”, the directors claim.
The Junction hopes to cater to the large catchment areas south of Park Street.
“It is cushioned from all sides by high-disposable income residential areas of south Calcutta and is uniquely positioned to serve the captive consumer base of 7,000 residents of the 1,600 apartments within South City itself,” says Mohta.
If Giant, spread over 80,000 sq ft, will stock everything from fresh fruits to groceries, apparel to white goods at “extremely competitive” prices, the big brands would make their way into the likes of Lifestyle, making its Calcutta debut.
