Merawala Mall

Gold County, another jewellery and high fashion accessories mall to be launched in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, will have safe deposit vaults for shopkeepers and bank counters issuing mall debit cards to customers in exchange for cash. And Senior Builder's Auto Mall, to be constructed in Gurgaon, besides having big car brands, dealers, finance and insurance companies, will also have a "test-drive" track on its roof, a petrol pump and a branch of the regional transport office (RTO) that will issue number plates and registration on the spot. "The idea is that a person can come with his family to pick out a car, test-drive it, buy it with a loan, fill his fuel tank, and drive out with his registration and insurance papers in place," says Senior's MD Vijay Dixit.

It isn't just a big metro story. Aerens and Omaxe have seen the success of Kumar Builders' discount mall, KK Bazaar, in Pune, and have been eyeing the smaller cities. For Pune itself, Deepak Fertiliser and Petrochemicals has grander plans. Their 10-acre Ishanya mall will serve every construction need, for offices, residences, malls and multiplexes. This "mother of all malls" will bring under its roof property dealers, landscape artistes, architects, engineers, building material retailers and contractors.

Rajbal believes that such varied retailing under one roof dedicated to the same theme satisfies the Indian consumer's need to compare and weigh the pros and cons of different brands before making a decision. It might well be the solution for the problem faced by most general malls where hordes of visitors come and do everything but buy.