The State Cabinet’s decision on Wednesday to allow shops inside malls and mill compounds to remain open for 24 hours through the week has been welcomed by industry stakeholders, even as retailers got down to working on their revenue v/s expense projections to assess the financial impact of the initiative.
Dilip Datwani, former president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India, said, “This is a long-awaited demand from the hotel and tourism industry and, finally, after almost two decades, [it has] been met. This will give a big fillip to business in Mumbai and has tremendous potential to transform the tourism landscape of the city.” Mr. Datwani said the decision will add more jobs to the hotel and tourism industry and will have an overall positive impact on the economy. “Mumbai could be a model city in this regard,” he said.
The Retailers Association of India (RAI) said the government move was in line with its retail trade policy and amendments made to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishment Act. “The progressive government of Maharashtra issued a notification to this effect on December 19, 2017. However, the same could not be implemented due to operational difficulties,” RAI said in a statement.
‘Win-win for all’
Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive officer, RAI, “This is a win-win for all. It will help increase customer satisfaction, because customers can buy things whenever there is a need. It will also help retailers achieve better sales as well as increase the revenue collection for the State government. More importantly, it will increase employment. Our expectation is that employment in the retail sector will increase by as much as 10% in the next three years.”
Grauer and Weil (India) Limited, which operates Growel’s 101 mall at Akurli Road in Kandivali, said it was happy to support the initiative. Chief operating officer, retail and real estate, Sachin Dhanawade, said, “We appreciate the concept of 24x7 in Mumbai … however, it is imperative that we take feedback and consensus from our retail partners.”
Mr. Dhanawade said to begin with, they might try this out on Fridays and Saturdays. “The entertainment and F&B tenants have responded positively … However, most retailers are still working on their revenue v/s expense projections to assess the financial impact … We as a mall … are also reviewing the impact on operational cost v/s the revenues that would be generated for tenants to support the initiative partially, if not fully,” he said.
This weekend, malls like Atria in Worli, Infiniti in Malad and Andheri, R Mall in Ghatkopar, Phoenix Mills in Parel and Phoenix Market City in Kurla, Inorbit in Malad and Oberoi Mall in Goregaon are among those set to stay open 24 hours.
