Home Truths: What the Home Buyers Want

[ToniSam00]

Amidst high growth of organized retail and an ever-increasing urban population with high disposable income becoming brand and quality conscious, India is ushering in the ‘great mall boom’. But is it only an initial euphoria that may not last long or will the organized retail, which is still at a nascent stage, turn into a goldmine in the years to come.

The great Indian retail boom is here and happening and both metros and tier two cities are fast catching this new organised retail fever. According to industry estimates, over 280 malls are expected to come up by 2006 across the country and more than 25 million sq ft of organized retail space will be generated by 2005.

The availability of land for Builders in India , coupled with the flexibility of retail use has been the key trigger for the supply deluge. The mall culture is the talk of the town and many metro towns have certainly taken the spotlight. Organised and convenient retailing will be the most essential factor for the future, and metro malls have a lot to offer.

The key drivers of retail activity are the apparel and the F&B sectors. The organised apparel segment is expected to grow at a steady pace of 9.5 percent per annum over the next three years, driven primarily by large domestic brands. A notable trend in the market is the development of integrated retail-cum-entertainment centres. An increasing number of retailers are focusing on malls as opposed to stand-alone developments. Several factors determine a retailer’s attraction towards a particular mall. Besides this, the concept of mega malls, which have large format space and have inbuilt entertainment facilities, is picking up. Then the whole new market of niche or concept malls – from wedding malls to auto malls to women malls is opening up.