Novel malls for showcasing brands

Novel malls for showcasing brands
Priyanka Dasgupta Bhrama
Financial Chronicle

Entertainment World Developers (EWDPL), a partner firm of Mumbai-based Phoenix Mills, is launching a concept called `Treasure Showcase’, which will help Indian manufacturers and emerging brands to showcase their products/brands in a mall environment. EDWDPL is into developing shopping malls, residential town¬ships and hospitality projects.

The company is planning to build 20 malls in 11 states spreading over an area of 1 million sq ft with this new concept by 2011. “In these malls, depending on the kind of market, the area of Treasure Showcase will range from 15,000 to 50,000 sq ft,” said Kush Medhora, chief operating officer, EWDPL.

The entire concept will be built on a revenue sharing basis. “There will be no rent, no CAM, no deposit, no maintenance. With Treasure Showcase, the idea is to enable more Indian products and brands to benefit from modern retail practices, leveraging retail intelligence and a new business/ revenue model. Here emerging brands will rub shoulders with established brands under the same roof. Besides, it will also lead to an increase in footfalls, drawing in consumers who are currently non-mall customers, offering them greater choice,” said Manish Kalani, managing director, EWDPL.

These malls will come up in places like Agra Amaravati, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhilai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mohali, Nanded, Pune, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Ujjain and Vado-dara in categories ranging like apparel, footwear, electronics, food, accessories, cosmetics, jewellery and home furnishings.

According to Kalani, this will help in promoting consumption, by providing emerging Indian consumers access to a wider bouquet of brands at various price points. “While India’s aggregate consumption is set to quadruple by 2025, the emerging middle class in metros, cities and towns will significantly drive consumption across categories — thus, creating the need for a whole new generation of brands that are young, trendy and affordable,” he said.

The company expects to generate revenues of over Rs 500 crore by 2011 from Treasure Showcase. Nearly Rs 300 crore will be invested in creating and promoting this concept, which would include the cost of real estate. “The whole concept will be based on a transparent / pre-determined margin sharing revenue model,” Kalani said.