Select Citywalk : Walk through a select aisle.

By Ranjan Kaplish


Those were decades of uneasy truce between the developed countries and the ones still trying to get there… The infrastructure was (and still is) not right; the economy had no good numbers to recommend itself; and the consumers’ pockets were not so deep. Although the gap, the difference and the uneasy truce remain, their intensity is weak. India, today, has changed.

The bulge in the average middle-class Indian's pocket is visible; but, on what, how, and in which sort of environment will he shop, his shopping preferences, or his favourite type of centres for shopping to spend that extra dime, remain a subjective issue of understanding.

The above three paragraphs refer to three varied concepts. While in the first are three entities, in the second lies the significance of economics, and in the third is a psychological truism. In all, it is an art, an economy, and a psychology, which, when clubbed together and applied correctly, can create a concept that can do wonders in the 'business of making people  spend where you want them to spend'.

Select Citywalk, the shopping centre in the southern heart of the national capital of India, has woven in a concept that is an amalgamation of several concepts, all practical and operational.

Flashback

The foundation stone of this mall, which is built on over one million square feet of land, was laid about four years ago. The concept of what the mall would be and do, was clear even before the acquisition of land. The catchment areas and the demographics were studied thoroughly. Lessons in ideas and innovations - not to forget the loopholes - executed in shopping centres across the globe, along with the conscious and the latent psychological underpinnings of consumer buying behaviour, were considered while drawing up the blueprint.

"In 2004, when this project was being conceived, there were more than 200 shopping centres coming up across India. But none of them were coming up in south Delhi or south Bombay, where the catchment area was of better quality or more affluent in nature.

"For us, these six acres of land at Saket in Delhi meant an opportunity to build something that would fit in well with the community around. The team, consisting of Select Group and Aarone Group, started putting together a vision and a set of objectives while keeping the DDA master plan in mind," recalls Pranay Sinha, president and CEO, Select Citywalk.

The 'opportunity' here was to create something different - probably an attempt to bring all things to all people, and appeal to those who had had that 'It's troublesome and chaotic' or 'something is missing' feeling while shopping in the so-called highs streets of Delhi.

"We looked at success stories where stores were doing well - success stories in terms of marketplaces, such as Greater Kailash and South Extension; success stories in terms of vibrant places, like Dilli Haat; success stories in terms of a nice character, like Santushti; success stories in terms of a popular shopping centre, like those in Gurgaon in the national capital region (NCR). We also looked at overseas models, particularly at KL City Centre, Pacific Centre, Raffles after the renovation, Orchard Road centre, the Middle East shopping centres, and so on. We looked at putting together what we felt a solution for India should consist of," adds Sinha.

Moreover, the developer had a simple, workable formula - enhance the shopping experience of Indians. It calls to mind the infamous Premier Padmini (Fiat), which, with scarcely a change, kept running on Indian roads until Suzukis brought in the next phase of revolution. Similarly, Select Citywalk has introduced a lifestyle-driven experience that not just enhances the shopping aspect, but also stimulates a social setting.

Elaborating on the tenant mix, Sinha asserts: "We understand our country better than others, and we've exhibited and demonstrated pride in doing all of this. You see a collage everywhere in the mall-there is a French Connection with a Rajesh Pratap Singh, an Esprit with a Kimaya, a Body Shop and a Fabindia, a Lancôme with a Forest Essentials. We have a lot of retailers whom we believe in, and who have done the country proud. We see it as a canvas where a retailer, irrespective of being a local or a global brand, gets a uniform, level-playing field."