Real estate developers and retail planners in the country are working on mall designs which are much more spacious than hitherto. This seems contrary to the recent trend of several malls around the country closing due to poor sales but experts say larger shopping areas make good business sense. According to Pioneer Property Zone, people now prefer to acquire larger properties and build bigger malls because owners want to avert competition in the neighbourhood. The company is developing a little over 30 retail projects, to be functional in one to four years. The company reveals that their average mall size in 2015 will be 47,000 sq ft, compared to the current 38,000 sq ft. For instance, Kochi’s Lulu Mall is 1.7 mn sq ft of gross leasable area; the DLF Mall of India coming up at Noida is expected to be 1.9 mn sq ft. Such new boost in the sector will bring in a fresh opportunity for the signage players whose activities revolve around in-shop displays, designs and related activities.
