The largest congregation of shopping centres and retailers in India, India Shopping Centre Forum (ISCF), is back to Renaissance, Mumbai again for its second edition. Scheduled to be held on May 29-30, 2009, the event promises to re-enthuse the recession struck developer community and brings together the biggies in retail and wholesale business including Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro, Future Group, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Trent, Mahindra, Bharti, Reliance, Aditya Birla, Prestige and Wadhawan Retail.
Sharing his views ahead of the two-day congregation, Kishore Biyani, founder and CEO, Future Group, said, “Shopping centre development is crucial to the future growth of retail. It is imperative that retailers and developers collaborate to create spaces that keep customer interest alive.” ISCF is perfectly timed to discuss mutual issues and draft a common agenda for a better tomorrow ahead, further added Biyani.
On similar note, BS Nagesh, managing director, Shoppers Stop, clarified, “In the current environment, the only way retail can succeed is if both the retailer and the mall operator work together as partners to create a win-win relationship for the future. These are tough times which can be conquered by collaboration, co-operation and creating unique customer experience.”
While Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj feels that the event will help retailers and real estate developers to spot future retail destinations and develop quality retail space conceptualising the matrix right from choosing the location to adopt flexible revenue sharing model, Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Reality, finds ISCF a platform for vibrant thoughts to converge and brainstorm on how together the fraternity speed up a recovery.
According to Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Reality, “ISCF will be the focal point for vibrant thoughts to converge and brainstorm on how together we speed up a recovery.” This will help brands, retailers and shopping centre developers to create new formats and better serve consumers and also to customise for potential markets/consumer segments, he assured.
Besides Indian retail and real estate companies, overseas companies, which are committed to a long term investment strategy in Indian shopping centres, also find ISCF an excellent opportunity to gauge the state of the industry. “The sharing of information and experiences is a positive way to improve our industry and we believe the ISCF is the perfect venue for such an exchange of ideas and viewpoints,” said Phil McArthur, senior VP, Ivanhoe Cambridge Investment Advisory (India).
Elaborating on the 2009 agenda, Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convener, ISCF, commented, “From new revenue streams to innovation, this time around we decided to address the entire asset life cycle of Shopping Centres and Retail and to bring together the brightest brains to share their strategies to conceptualise next gen retail spaces.” The 2009 edition of ISCF would bring together some of the best of infrastructure development funds, real estate developers, organisations supporting the shopping centre businesses besides brands & retailers, he added.
The key participants at the forum include top management of retail brands including Infinity Retail (Croma), Genesis Colours (Satya Paul), Kimaya, Emaar Retail, Arvind Brands, Madura Garments, McDonald’s, HiDesign, BIG Cinemas, Odyssey, Pepe, Essar (The Mobile Store), Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, Foresight Retail, Cookie Man, ColorPlus, Benetton, Spa Group, Raymond and Coffee Café Day.
Shopping Centre support organisations participation include top IPCs, management advisory, design firms and funds like Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Knight Frank, Ivanhoe Cambridge, FCRE, KPMG, Star Centres, Sq. Ft. Consulting, Meridian Retail Group, Synergistic Real Estate, IRIS, Go Fish Retail Solutions, Squarefeet Management, Segece, WT Retail, Portland Design, Benoy, Chapman Taylor, Laguarda.Low, Pentair Inc, Environmental Design Solutions, HVAC Consultant and Blocher & Blocher Partners.
— IndiaRetailing Bureau
