Can Dead Malls be Repurposed?

MY LAST COLUMN had suggested that placing new malls in upcoming parts of a city could help in promoting its holistic growth. In the feedback I received, some people lamented the demise or near demise of malls which had once been their favourite haunts, but had become poor shadows of themselves. This could have been due to the advent of more attractive alternatives in their vicinity, or the result of many other factors.

- Ajai Kumar Dayal

Over time, mall managements tend to become complacent, losing the cutting edge with which they started their operations. Exciting in-mall marketing and promotion programmes carry it through the initial years but then people change, they lose interest, and fail to innovate with new cutting-edge ideas.

Sometimes, stores lose momentum, brands falter, or are no longer relevant, which in turn impacts the attractiveness of the mall for fickle visitors who eschew boring old stores. Alert mall managements strive to find ways to encourage laggard stores to lift their game, but if this does not work, need to consider steps to replace them.

I recall a number of heated discussions, many with implicit warnings, regarding a low-performing store. The mall could not act unilaterally as the tenancy period had not finished. We were loath to shut it down, simply to save the face of the company. The mall finally offered to pay us to vacate the premises. Along with us, they also roped in some other weak-performing neighbors, who all accepted the 'compensation' and left. That section of the mall was broken down and remodeled, creating larger spaces for hot new brand stores, carving out shops for smaller specialty stores which were then the rage, sprinkling in some cafes. A few months later, the renewed precinct was relaunched. Bingo, it was a hands-down success.