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DLF dominates India with ‘different formats for different opportunities’ INDIA’s largest shopping-centre owner, DLF Shopping Malls, is flexing its formats to generate growth in a range of different locations, according to executive director Pushpa Bector. At the top of the size range,
DLF already owns the sub-continent’s largest centre in the form of the 180,000 sq m Mall of India, which is located near New Delhi. It is now proposing a similar-sized retail property as part of a 900,000 sq m mixed-
DLF Shopping Malls’ Pushpa Bector: “India is not suitable for a cookie-cutter approach”
use project in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon. But Bector warned: “India is not suitable for a cookie-cutter approach.” As a result, smaller city-centre formats are being rolled out with footprints of around 45,000 sq m. Two have already been developed in Delhi, called Promenade and Avenue. At the same time, DLF is looking to add retail and amenities hubs of around 20,000 sq m each to its network of office campuses. “We need to have different formats for different opportunities,” Bector said. While global brands add a certain glamour to shopping malls, Bector believes the tenant mix at DLF’s schemes will always be led by domestic brands. “Made-inIndia brands do better business than international brands,” she said. “They’ve been quick to learn from global brands and they’re more in tune with local tastes.”
Beware ‘constant change’, Tan warns SINGAPORE-based developer CapitaLand believes flexibility and a strong emphasis on design are the keys to building a sustainable retail-property business. Speaking at MAPIC, CEO Wilson Tan warned retailers and developers not to lose sight of the fundamentals: “Retail has been around for 2,500 years since the first agora,” he said. “It continues to change, but it’s fundamentally the same — it’s about bringing people together to exchange.” He added: “The form changed with the Industrial Revolution and, again, with the digital revolution and it will continue to evolve. But my sense is that retailers and developers are too caught up in the digital movement. We’re in danger of becoming casualties of the desire for constant change.”
Tan’s advice is that longevity stems from design sensibility, building flexibility into schemes so that they remain relevant to
the needs of consumers and stakeholders. “We need to be sensitive to the changes in our ecosystem,” he concluded.
CapitaLand’s Wilson Tan: “too caught up in digital”
MAPIC News 2 • 29 • 14 November 2019
PUTTSHACK SET TO TEE OFF IN NEW MARKETS COMPETITIVE socialising brand Puttshack is looking to use MAPIC as a springboard to enter new territories after its successful launch in the UK and US. The patented format, described as “mini-golf reimagined”, uses RFID chips embedded in golf balls to allow instant scoring. Each site offers between three and six nine-hole courses that are regularly refreshed by Puttshack’s in-house design and manufacturing teams, with new challenges added to encourage repeat visits. Commercial director Hugh Knowles said: “It’s a game of luck and a game of skill. It’s a great leveller. The offer is as much about socialising and F&B as it is about mini-golf.” Puttshack made its debut at Westfield London in July 2018. Knowles said trade is up 20% year-on-year at that site. The company has now opened at intu Lakeside, east of London, as one of the anchors of a new leisure extension, and UK deals have also been agreed at intu Watford and intu Trafford Centre. The format is flexible and operates from sites of between 1,500 sq m and 3,000 sq m. The US, where there are six sites in the pipeline, is seen as the next focus for growth. “Our key demographic is core millennials,” company president Dave Diamond said. “And mini-golf is also popular with women. We serve both the corporate and family markets.”