Turning Big Bazaar into a community mall

If Ashni Biyani, director, Future Ideas at Future Group, has her way, the residents of Malleswaram in Bangalore would celebrate Ugadi festival in Big Bazaar this year.

With Pantaloon, her father Kishore Biyani introduced the mall
culture in India, and now Ashni wants to take shopping to the next level.

She envisions Big Bazaar as the community retail centre of tomorrow, where tradition meets modernity under the same roof.

“The challenge is to sell mundus at the same place as jeans,” said Ashni Biyani when asked about the roadblocks in giving Big Bazaar the avatar that the 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 Bazaar Family Centre at Malleswaram owning one of the best spots and selling his fruit at Rs 4 less.  

Malleswaram has been selected for the pilot project for the community retail centre because of the diverse backgrounds of its residents, who are from different parts of the country.

So, if you are from the backwaters living in Malleswaram and suddenly crave puttu then instead of going around the city to scout for Keralite restaurants, a trip to the next door community centre could do the trick.

The store is not limiting itself to the attracting consumers through merchandise only; it has started working on alliances with the temple societies and community associations in the area.

Future Value Retail business head (south) Venkateshwar Kumar said the associations of Marwari, Gujarati, Lingayat and Keralite communities, or samajs, in the vicinity have been approached so that they can organise ceremonies in the Big Bazaar itself at
discounted rates.

Kumar said these samajs have around 5,950 members in the locality. “This will get us more footfalls at the community mall,” he said.

Biyani is also planning tie-ups 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, such a 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.

The Big Bazaar Community Shopping Centre is spread over 70,000 square feet with an investment of around Rs 20 crore. Biyani said the other malls would follow the same format.

Biyani said the new retail concept was a result of surveys that showed how people in every community have very specific demands and would rough it through the city snarls to get them.

“The team spent time researching amongst Malleswaram resident about local delicacies they buy. Therefore, one sees the counters of gulkand by Bhagyalakshmi or a cozy corner catering to the coffee aficionados by Gayatri Coffee,” said Biyani.

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.