Delhi malls reopen, retail shops to function on odd-even basis

After almost two months into the lockdown, malls in Delhi are set to reopen on Monday with shops reopening on an odd-even basis. While malls in Gurgaon reopened on May 31, those in Noida and Ghaziabad remain closed for now. Mall owners say that the industry has been ready for reopening, and as they reopen for the second time after the second wave of COVID, live footfall tracking and vaccination for all employees will remain their focus.However, with cinemas, dine-in at restaurants, and salons closed, mall owners are not expecting high footfalls. But with retail stores reopening, customers can expect massive discounts with June-July being sale months.
Mall owners say that June-July is usually the sale period, and due to the shutdown in the last couple of months, retailers have a lot of stock to exhaust. Pushpa Bector, Director, Shopping Centres Association of India and Executive Director, DLF Shopping Malls, says, “We do anticipate that sales will start sooner than before to ensure that the entire stocks retailers have are liquidated. We’ll be gearing up for the season and are ready to get customers back in the most safe and secure environment with our vaccination and sanitation drive. Apart from the guidelines recommended by local authorities, we have stringent measures such as live footfall trackers and vaccination for all mall employees. It is important that we provide a safe environment to consumers as well as to build staff confidence during these testing times. We hope that business will soon be back to normal.”
Arjun Gehlot, Director, Ambience Malls, Vasant Kunj and Gurgaon, says, "We have organised five vaccination drives at Ambience Mall Gurgaon and Vasant Kunj. We'll be organising these drives even after malls reopen. All mall and tenant staff has been vaccinated and we'll be using our mall's app to control visitors' entry and exit." Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group, adds, “We will follow all the guidelines given by them (the authorities) for reopening malls as the safety of our customers is paramount to us.”

Yogeshwar Sharma, Executive Director & CEO, Select Citywalk, says, “We are mindful of the great responsibility and stringent measures required to operate a public space in these difficult times. Hence, we will be opening in a sustainable manner to ensure public safety. Keeping this in mind, the reopening has been mapped out with extensive SOPs. We will also be working in tandem with our retail and other occupiers to ensure best practices for the safety of our visitors.” Mall owners say that for shopping centres to operate at an optimum level, cinemas, fitness zones, cafes, salons etc have to be operational, which aren’t permitted to reopen at the moment. Retail outlets at malls will be open on an odd-even basis, whereas cinema halls, salons, fitness centres and F&B outlets for dining in will remain shut.