Shopping centres turning into ghost malls in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, May 8: Several big shopping malls are turning into ghost malls in Bhubaneswar as consumers turn towards online purchases. Many of the small shopping malls are on the verge of closure while the vacancy rate has increased at bigger shopping malls in the capital city of Odisha.

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According to reports, out of the eight prominent shopping centres of the city, four are struggling with vacancy of many shops.

The Pal Heights mall at Jayadev Vihar, which was once a prominent shopping centre for city denizens, has lost its significance with visible decrease in footfall.

Similarly, the oldest mall of the city Forum Mart near Ram Mandir Square which was the first one to bring mall culture to Bhubaneswar in 2004 has turned into a ghost mall. Most of the shops have downed their shutter following decrease in number of visitors.

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The Symphony Mall at Hanspal and BMC Bhabani Mall at Saheed Nagar are going through the same situation.

On the other hand, the Esplanade One in Rasulgarh, DN Regalia in Patrapada, Utkal Kanika Galleria and Krishna Plaza in Nayapalli have doing good business with several multinational brands opening their outlets at these shopping centres of the city.

The count of ghost shopping malls, characterized by a vacancy rate exceeding 40%, rose from 57 in 2022 to 64 in the previous year across eight major cities of India, according to a report published by Knight Frank India. 

The Delhi NCR accounted for the highest stock of ghost shopping centres, followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru.

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This transformation is driven by changing consumer behaviour, with more people opting for online shopping and better experience at larger shopping centers, the report said.