Ashni Biyani is following her father’s path by reinventing retail experience with her Big Bazzar Family Centre.
IIf Ashni Biyani, director of Future Ideas in Future Group, has her way then the residents of Malleswaram would celebrate their Ugadi festival in Big Bazaar this year.
Following the path of her father Kishore Biyani, who introduced the mall culture in India with Pantaloon, Ashni Biyani wants to take shopping to the next level.
She wants Big Bazaar to become the community retail centre of tomorrow, and wants tradition to meet modernity under the same roof.
“The challenge is to sell mundus at the same place as jeans,” summed up Ashni Biyani when asked about the roadblocks in giving Big Bazaar the avatar that local communities can identify with.
Therefore, the local banana vendor, Baburaj whose stall on the sixth cross in Malleswaram was a landmark of sorts, is now seen inside the Big Bazzar Family Centre at Malleswaram owning one of the best spots and selling his fruit at Rs 4 less. But he has no regrets. Malleswaram is the location in Bangalore handpicked for the pilot project because of its intrinsic quality of nestling residents, who are from different parts of the country - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
So, if you are from the backwaters, living in Malleswaram, and suddenly have the urge to down some Puttu then instead of going around the city to scout for Keralite restaurants, a trip to the next-door community centre would do the trick.
The store is also not limiting itself to attracting consumers through merchandise only; it has also started working on alliances with the different temple societies and community associations in the area.
Future Value Retail business head (south) Venkateshwar Kumar says the associations in the vicinity cater to the Marwari, Gujrati, Lingayat and Keralite communities who have been approached so that they can organise ceremonies in the Big Bazaar itself at reduced rates. Kumar reveals these Samaj, community associations, have around 5,950 members in the locality and would get more footfalls at the community mall.
However, the ace up Biyani’s sleeves is the tie-up with the nearby temples so that all the wares used for prayers are bought from Big Bazaar. And in this temple-centric part of the city, this move is sure to give Big Bazaar’s competitors a run for their money.
Kumar said the shop-in-shop format catering to the needs of the local community would also be implemented in Big Bazaar outlets in Banasankari and Old Madras Road. The next one would be located in Rajajinagar, which is expected to be launched in the next couple of months.
Big Bazaar Family Centre is spread across 70,000 square feet (sft) with an investment of around Rs20 crore. Biyani said other malls coming would be following the same format.
Biyani said that the new retail concept came out of surveys that showed how people in every community have very specific demands and would rough it through the city snarls just to get them.
“The team spent time finding out from the residents of Malleswaram and what are the local delicacies they buy. Therefore, one sees the counters of Gulkand by Bhagyalakshmi – a local shop found in the vicinity and a cozy corner catering to the coffee aficionados by Gayatri Coffee,” said Biyani. The city’s Malleswaram is just the testing ground for Big Bazaar, which will soon get replicated in other cities.
And the likes of Baburaj couldn’t be happier as they shift their shops from dusty streets to the plush interiors of a mall without losing their clientele.
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