Crossroads ready for a makeover

Crossroads caused a furore when it opened as India's first full-fledged shopping mall in Mumbai and now with changing ownership, it's set for a complete makeover, reports CNBC-TV18.

It doesn't get more central than this and that's probably why Future Group has zeroed in on Crossroads, in South Mumbai's Haji Ali, to develop, as it's first Central Mall in the city.

Future Group Chairman, Kishore Biyani who bought Crossroads from the Piramal's in March this year, said that while converting Crossroads into Pantaloon's mall Concept - Central was the company's first option, other formats were being considered too.

Currently, the Future Group has three Central Mall formats across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Central Malls are seamless malls, located at the city's nerve center, and house close to 300 brands, along with restaurants and nightclubs.

We hear that the group is also mulling over the idea of converting Crossroads into a luxury mall. Analysts say that such a format might just work with luxury brands giving five star hotels a skip and scouting premium malls for retail space. Take the Atria mall for example, about 2 km from Crossroads, it opened in May this year. Marketed as a luxury mall, the developers claim that they see close to 18,000 customers on weekends. And 90 per cent of these customers convert into sales.

The Future Group bought Crossroads for Rs250 crore from the Piramals. Spread over 1.2 lakh square foot of space, the mall houses brands like McDonalds, Mango, Marks and Spencer and Swarovski. According to real estate consultants, bulk of the retail leases for Crossroads expire by the end of this year, a time by when most will know what Kishore Biyani has on his mind.