FASHION: THE HIGH STREET’S MEGA-STORE OBSESSION
The mega-store has well and truly arrived in the local high-street for apparel: extensive varnished spaces with glossy floors, teeming with fabric and accessories. Shelves reserved for unstitched lawn nudge against displays for prêt; the womenswear leads off to menswear and accessories glint colourfully from the corners. There are sitting areas for when shoppers get tired and an array of changing rooms to facilitate wardrobe trials. Spacious and usually well-stocked, a large outcropping of these stores now dots the local retail landscape, growing proportionally to the mega-mall boom in the country.
The malls offer large retail spaces and customer footfall tends to ensure considerable daily sales for most stores. And possibly every brand worth its mettle now has a standalone presence at some mall or the other; from long-time stalwarts like Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam Textiles and Nishat Linen to younger game-changers such as Khaadi and Sapphire to the latest contenders to enter the periphery: Lakhany Silk Mills (LSM) and Orient Textiles. Customers are quite visibly accustomed now to mega-stores and brands are eager to enamour them with their retail outlets.
But opening a mega-store can’t possibly be easy. Rents at malls, for one, are catastrophically high, often making it difficult for brands to break even in the initial years following the opening. The increasing competition can also make it difficult to make a mark — usually large high street stores line up in a mall side-by-side with each other, all clustering for a slice of the same lucrative market pie.
Fancy stores may offer experience but distinctive designs would make the trip worth it
Additionally, with all and sundry jumping onto the mega store bandwagon, brands work hard to stand apart from the crowd. Large budgets are splurged out on interiors. Sapphire’s stores have a trademark white varnish with birds suspended from the ceiling, fountains holding court in central zones and leafy green plants popping out here and there. Khaadi’s many stores across the country and abroad have earthy brown interiors set off with geometric installations. Sana Safinaz opt for a luxe effect, with chandeliers, tasteful vases and plush couches within their stores.
At Karachi’s Lucky One Mall, the just-opened Orient Textiles store is resplendent with shiny lacquered floors worked with monochrome zig-zags, artistic ceiling installations and strategically positioned racks for unstitched fabric, apparel, quirky handbags and home accessories. Similarly, the LSM store on Karachi’s Tipu Sultan Road — another new contender — comes with a sequestered prayer area and spaces allotted to different ranges.
But one wonders if mega stores are actually necessary? After all, each and every one of these retail brands is targeting a mass market, with prices that begin at an affordable 2,000 rupees or even less. Why spend so much on interiors and rentals when the prices of the stock itself are economical?