Select City Walk: Changing the way consumers shop

Pranay Sinha, 36, President and CEO, Select City Walk, has been on a mall mission for almost a decade now, both internationally and in the Indian market. He hopes to create many more physical environments in the next five years that radically change the way consumers shop and live.

No one would think that a man who was mesmerized by the size of an escalator, would one day help design and build about 50 malls and shopping centers in India and abroad. But that is exactly what he has done. An architect, Sinha started his career in Singapore with CDG International, a US-based shopping center specialist. He then moved to Jones Lang La Salle in 1999 and set up their retail and leisure advisory business in India. He played a pivotal role in creating Shopping Arcade at The Leela, Bangalore, The Grand Hyatt and Taj Colaba, Mumbai. His current passion is Delhi’s Select City Walk, the swanky new mall in South Delhi.

"It is architecture for the masses and people, it brings delight and joy. So, I decided to sort of spend the rest of my life with it. It just so happened that I was very lucky. I got a chance to work across Southeast Asia during the mall boom times there," Sinha said.

A: My boss is the consumer. The biggest learning over time has been that creating physical environments is not a result of architecture, business strategy, absorption patterns, or market dynamics alone. It is a combination of all of these and it then becomes a bit of an art to balance out everything and create an environment that pleases people and bankers.

A: It’s a very simple win-win situation. Three years ago, we were not sure whether the place would work, so our clients would tell us what’s the guarantee that what you are saying is not a story but it will be reality. So, what if it doesn’t happen? However, if all of what you are saying happens, we might do higher sales. In which case, we will be able to hold more money. So, if you deliver, we will pay you more.

A: There is threshold rent, monthly minimum guarantee, or a percentage of sales. So, if somebody sells 20 T-shirts, we get two. Effectively in money value terms, if they sell 40 we get four, therefore the mall management will always be inclined to do things that make sales grow.

A: There are a couple of ways to look at it. In three-and-a-half-years, value of the asset is perhaps about 10 times the investment deployed. So, that is a nice jump, if somebody wants to exit.

A: I don’t think we would want to be doing that, because we built it with a different perspective. We built it not only to earn money but also to give something back to the city, to earn pride. The group comprises of the SHRL which owned and managed SITA World Travels for 40 years, the largest travel company; and the Aron Group which his headed by CEO Rajat Arora. So, the two of them came together, and out bid DLF, MGF, and all the other players in acquiring this piece of land.

Sinha: We didn’t want to make a place where there is very low, or high traffic. It becomes uncomfortable for you. We wanted it to be comfortably empty and full, so we are blended between the masses and classes. We have Pantaloons, PVR, Nike, Benneton, Levis, among others. We also have Mango, French Connection, Calvin Klein, and Esprit.

A: Time will tell, but I worship Indian retail. It will evolve over time. India is not going to be a copy-paste solution. Most people in the country now realize that. India has a very rich and long heritage of successful retail. When we were doing City Walk, we studied KLCC, Surya, Pacific Place’s Hong Kong and West Asian centers, and GK M Block Market’s South Extension and Gurgaon center. You see a very strong presence of India and we see that women in South Delhi is very plural, she is rooted in her past, and is embracing her future. That’s really the soul that we wanted to capture in this mall.

A: The biggest stumbling block for India to become a great physical environment is our public spaces like infrastructure, roads, and shopping centers. People are not able to get to you in time or to the market place for than matter. Like a Greater Kailash or south extension, they will not come, or they will waste a lot of their shelf time, or merchandise time in the car. So, it’s a set back for retail, consumption, manufacturing, and the whole economy, if we don’t have these arteries completely cleared up and sorted out. There is a huge bubble in pricing building up in certain pockets of the country, but water will find its own level and the correction is bound to happen.

A: One person can’t do anything but as people we have everything it takes to make it happen. Why can’t Delhi be like Singapore or Dubai, we have the knowledge, we are a trader city, a city run by retail which enjoys spending so much. If Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai all have Rs 100, Chennai saves Rs 80 and spend Rs 20. In Mumbai, they spend Rs 60 and save Rs 40 and in Delhi, they spend Rs 120. So, Delhi is the blue-eyed boy for consumption for the whole country, it’s the perfect place to become the Mecca for retailing and consumption in India.