Comfort is defined by shrunken dimensions of time and space: The shorter the time and the distance, the more desirable the situation. A palm, a thumb and a trigger-finger — and, of course, with a smartphone wedged in — now do quick work of shopping. At the height of the pandemic, they made a winsome quartet.
But, somewhere along the line, online shopping paled on people.
They seemed to seek a Goldilocks Zone, where shopping summoned some effort, however one still gentle on the limbs and the timepiece. Whenever pandemic curbs were relaxed, gated communities would organise pop-up markets, inviting brands home. The trend was particularly pronounced on the IT Corridor, lined as it with humongous gated communities. With the market established in familiar and controlled settings, pandemic-related safety was a given factor — or at least, so it seemed. These pop-up markets brought back the classic features of shopping, which shopaholics would describe as the gloating, the feel, and the climactic moment of purchase.
Online shopping can never match that. On the flip side, these pop-up markets called forth some effort from the gated communities, as they had to ink in agreements with brands, working out the minutiae of the collaboration.
Now, cut to the Tamil Nadu Smiling initiative by The Hindu Group with its promise of pop-up markets to gated communities, as also the small businesses it seeks to give a leg-up to.
If you are a gated community, and you want the Tamil Nadu Smiling initiative to set up a pop-up market in your neck of the woods, call 9176332152 or send a mail to javedahmed.pa@thehindu.co.in
It sets up the pop-up market, cherry-picking small businesses that have been sussed out for quality and integrity. It chooses to have these markets in gated communities, as they organically gravitate towards any facilities, temporary or permanent, offered on their premises.
After all, did not the prospect of accessing various amenities in one place draw these residents to a gated community in the first place? By helping small businesses, this initiative is adding a social dimension to pop-up markets. There is also the social component of residents of a community shopping together.
Significantly, this service by The Hindu Group through its Tamil Nadu Smiling programme goes out entirely free of cost to both the gated communities and the small businesses. On August 15, it organised a pop-up market at House of Hiranandani Upscale, a 2000-unit, 8,000-member gated community in Egattur, Old Mahabalipuram Road.
