Panchkula malls fail to turn shoppers’ paradise

Hina Rohtaki

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 24

The mall culture is yet to pick up in Panchkula. Six years after being inaugurated, two pioneer shopping malls of the township, Shalimar and Bella Vista, constructed at a cost of Rs 100 crore each, have failed to attract shoppers, who still prefer Elante Mall and DT Mall in Chandigarh over these.

Shalimar and Bella Vista, that were supposed to give a boost to the night life in the township, are lying nearly deserted as a majority of the shops are vacant. At Shalimar, over 100 shops are lying vacant while 60 per cent of the shops are lying vacant at Bella Vista. Both malls were inaugurated with aplomb in 2009.

The management of Shalimar Mall is reportedly suffering huge losses.

“Around 100 shops are lying vacant. Instead of retailers, most of the shops were purchased by property dealers for investment. Due to a heavy recession in the market, they didn’t move an inch ahead,” said Innate Aggarwal, son of RK Aggarwal, the owner of the mall.

Asked whether the high prices of the shops were to be blamed for the poor occupancy, Aggarwal said, “Had that been the case, we would not have received applications seven times the number of shops. The fact is that the mall culture is yet to pick up in the township. We are suffering losses.”

With a three-level basement parking for 300 cars, three movie halls with a seating capacity of 750 persons and capsule escalators, Shalimar Mall was supposed to make Panchkula a shoppers’ paradise.

“We were elated when Panchkula was to get a mall as we felt there would be no need to go to Chandigarh. However, there are no attractions here,” said Ridhi Singla, a resident of Sector 6.

Vice-president of Bella Vista Jaskirat Nagra is still hopeful. He said: “I think we came a little early in the market. It is not just Panchkula but there are a few malls in Chandigarh also that are not doing well. Elante has become a favourite by virtue of its large size as it offers almost all brands.”

He said, “I think it’s a matter of time before the mall culture picks up here.”

Besides the shopping mall, Bella Vista has a five-star hotel on the top floor. As the name suggests, “beautiful view”, the mall has been given a Roman theme and there are water features such as fountains inside and outside the premises.

Power supply to Shalimar disconnected

The Electricity Department has even disconnected the power supply to Shalimar as it has not paid the electricity bill.

“A bill of Rs 19 lakh is due for two months. They did not pay; so we disconnected the connection. When they pay up, we will restore the power supply,” said SDO SK Goel.