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Vashi2Panvel.com: Navi Mumbai: May 29: Navi Mumbaikars are fast becoming shopping fiends. Whether it is for sabzi-tarkari or plastic buckets or a set of six Treo glasses for Rs 99, the city seems to have spawned a new generation of crazed shoppers that hit for the malls at the drop of a hat...er...rupee. If Center One is bursting at the seams, so is the newly opened D-Mart at Seawoods. The erstwhile serene neighbourhood that houses amongst others, goverment officials and their families in Kendriya Vihar, suddenly looks like it has awoken from deep slumber. Come evening and the road begins to look real busy. A large number of cars parked considerately angularly for ecomicised space, trolleys and uniformed attendants and a happy junta carrying armfuls of stuffed bags. Buying jhadus, door mats and plastic buckets were never more fun.

What super stores like D-Mart and malls like Centre One have done is insidiously creep into our psyche and like revitalisers pepped up our lifestyle. It wouldn't be wrong to call them life enhancers.

Ask Mr and Mrs Surendra Bagchi, CBD Belapur resident why they take the trouble to carry so much of the mundane stuff from a supermart when it might have been equally convenient to call up the bania across the street, and the answer is revealing. "Every time we go to these super malls like Centre-One, we love the ambience, the sho-sha, the beautiful shops but we are never able to walk out with our arms full....like the way we see the others. They come out and get into their cars. But now I feel and look like them", says a grinning Mrs Bagchi.

Aspirational attitude, a psychologist would say. Just fun living, a consumerist would argue. The most important point to be considered in this newly hyped phenomenon is why these brands want to expand their presence in these earlier deserted areas. There can be many reasons attached to this recent business interest of these companies. Navi Mumbai area has been the targeted zone for the branded stores like DMart, Apna Bazaar and the most recently opened Food Land Fresh in New Panvel. According to the store Manager of DMart, “It is the ambience and the convenience which draws people to these stores.” This shows that “regular affair is no longer a customary affair”. It is not just the products, which people want but the value attached to it.

The store Manager of FoodLand Fresh thinks that the much-urbanized area like Panvel has been devoid of such a store, which was like a gap to be filled. “The people here had to travel to Vashi mainly to get the products of their choice. So, we thought of capturing this need and acting accordingly,” he says. These stores make shopping a pleasurable practice for the local people with their modern techniques for billing and added benefits like discounts and offers.

As per the local residents this is a welcome change for them. “Now I don’t have to go to get the small products, as my son is more than eager to go to FoodLand & get them for me.” says a Panvel resident Mrs. Rani Singh. The gratifying environment accompanied by the ever-smiling store managers and helpers make it more comfortable for people to shop.

The most important aspect of these stores is the freedom to the buyer to check out the products by holding them in hands; this makes it easy for them to decide amongst various choices. They are free to have a look at the same product of various brands and then fix on one according to their needs.

There are also talks that these stores add to the budgeted expenses of the buyer. “We get in to search out for a small thing and end up buying many things which were not needed at that point of time, adding up many hundreds to our bill,” comments Mrs. Geeta Giridhar. The attractive displays and point of purchase advertisements makes it inducing for the purchaser.

Let the world say anything, many experiences, many reasons, many arguments, many conclusions…but the established certainty is that these stores are here to stay, changing the pattern of grocery shopping in these earlier ignored areas.

Smriti Mishra