It's a convenience contest

Shopping complexes are springing up all over the major cities. The question is: are they giving us what we want? Even just a decade ago Satmasjid Road was a relatively tranquil place. There were houses on either side of the road and several of them had these now-extinct structures called lawns. Lawns were small, enclosed grassy places where wild creatures like ants and worms roamed free.

All that is a different picture now. There is everything here other than homes. You cannot walk there without bumping into education. The whole place is lined with schools and universities. Maybe there are a few apartment buildings with miniature one square feet lawns similar to bonsai plants. But mostly the scenery consists of rows of concrete, glass and steel structures where wild creatures called 'people' roam. They are wild like caged animals because most of them cannot get out of the place due to traffic congestion. Wherever you look you will see a brand new shopping complex.

Empty dreams
It's easy to set up a shopping complex but making it a success can be a nightmare. There are many places that are buzzing with activity while others have shops employing people who practice for fly-killing championships. Take Eastern Plaza and Mutalib Plaza near Paribagh. While the former is jam packed on most days the latter stays cool and calm even on Fridays when most people are free to go out. A lot of shoppers were bugged for a clue to this answer.

Century Arcade probably had the first escalator and people flocked to see the latest gizmo in the city. It also provided a good shopping ground for those living in Moghbazaar. A lot of the times the escalators in Eastern Plaza are on vacation but that hardly deters the frenzied shoppers. They will climb rather than go elsewhere. The most activity is seen on the ground floor that houses the cosmetics and household goods and the floors that have the clothes and shoes. Go up to the top floor where all the electronics are kept and it's a mob in there. Most serious shoppers consider Eastern Plaza more convenient than the other shopping places. Costume jewellery as well as the large selection of DVDs not available elsewhere seem to top the list of must-buys.

Sumon, one of the shop assistants explained that their greatest sales are in DVDs as the public is very much into collecting movies. Sales are at an all time high especially now that pirated DVDs are slowly being phased out. Newer brands are coming in that are more expensive. An extension of Eastern Plaza is in Shahbagh called Eastern Plus but does sparse business compared to the mother mall.

It's a similar case with all other places. Rapa Plaza in Dhanmondi does booming business but Genetic Plaza just across the road sees negligible traffic. In fact, some of the shops in the latter closed down due to poor business. Similarly in Elephant Road some of the recently built shopping complexes remain woefully vacant. The olds shops lining the streets especially the shoe and clothing stores still attract a lot of customers. Most people go there because that is where the biggest bargains are available. Speaking of which no new shopping complex is yet to beat the volume of shoppers at Gausia market. There the customers are mostly women with a few hapless men tagging along reluctantly. It's a completely different world in there where the women shove the men out of the way to get to what they want. All this is despite the fact that there is poor ventilation and narrow walkways. The reason for its success is that it offers the widest variety of clothing goods at huge bargains.

What's the difference?
So what makes some of these shopping centres more popular than the others. The answer, it seems, is all about convenience. Rafiq Alam, newly married, likes to go to Rifles Square because it provides relatively safe parking for his newly acquired car. It's close to his residence in Dhanmondi so he can also use the rickshaw if needed. Also just about everything is available especially when Agora supermarket is situated in the same place. Although the prices are a little higher than elsewhere Rafiq is willing to pay the premium for the convenience and comfort of shopping in an air conditioned place. He also visits other places but this has the most amenities. It's a similar case with Meena Bazaar where the crowds are big despite the fact that there is very little parking space. People prefer places where they can find everything under one roof.

Hangouts
Bashundhara City, the mega mall that just about everyone wants to rush to is the only mall in the country and on Fridays the place is jam packed. But most people are seen leaving the mall empty handed. Most of the customers come here to simply spend some time window-shopping. It also serves as a pseudo playground for school and college going people who spend their free time there. Often entire contingents of uniform wearing groups are seen walking around. Rifat Siddiqui, a second year student of Viqarunnesa likes to spend time there meeting her friends. Asked if this is a regular spot they replied in the negative saying that they prefer going to Gausia for the shopping but the new shopping complexes provide comfortable places to simply hang out it. The young people complain that there are very few locations where you can meet up with friends and chat. With its Cineplex, the first ever inside a shopping complex in this country, more and more middle-class people come to Bashundhara City to relive the long-lost thrill of going to the cinema.

Shopping complexes are mushrooming without proper consideration. Customers want places they can have easy road access to as well as adequate parking. But then comes the matter of what is available for the consumers. All shopping complexes are offering just more of the same stuff. In such cases people prefer to frequent the places that they are used to. It's more like first built, first served. The ones that come up first have the most business. Simply building more of the same at the same locations will not get the business anywhere.

By Ehsanur Raza Ronny
Photo: Zahedul I Khan