The Abu Dhabi-headquartered retailer Lulu Group will open doors to its first mall and hypermarket in Telangana at Kukatpally on September 27.
Five-screen cinema
Spread across 5 lakh sq ft, including a 2 lakh sq ft Hypermarket, the mall has got a makeover—previously known as Manjeera Mall – more stores and a clutch of brands as part of the Rs 300 crore investment by the group. Complementing the international shopping experience that Lulu promises, there will be a five-screen cinema with a seating capacity of 1,400, multi-cuisine food court, and children’s entertainment centre.
The refurbishing and rebranding of the mall, for which a European consultant was engaged, forms part of the ₹500 crore investment commitment of Lulu to the State. As many as 1,500 direct jobs, of which 800 will be at the hypermarket, will be generated.
With a range of fresh produce and groceries and separate sections for fashion, home appliances, electronics, mobiles and lifestyle products, the hypermarket is expected to emerge as a major attraction to shoppers, Lulu Group said in a release.
The number of jobs will be in excess of 2,000 with indirect jobs that will be generated, Lulu Group International’s executive director M.A. Ashraf Ali and members of the senior leadership said during a media interaction at the mall on Tuesday. Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao is scheduled to inaugurate the mall on Wednesday.
Destination mall
Hyderabad, which will be the sixth city after Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Coimbatore, where the group will have its footprint, is also set to host a 2 million sq ft destination mall of Lulu in about three years.
Mr. Ali said that land has been identified and the process of applying for permissions is under way. He did not share details of the location, but said that the project is estimated at entail an investment of ₹1,200 crore.
Lulu Group also intends to explore opportunities available in tier II and III cities in Telangana. “There is a possibility [to set up] hypermarkets or smaller format malls. We haven’t decided... will survey each and every city and according to potential go ahead,” he said. Typically, hypermarket spans 50,000 sq. ft while smaller community malls involve 2 lakh sq ft, a senior executive said.
A 100% export oriented fish processing unit with an initial investment of ₹200 crore is another project under its consideration in Telangana.
