"Sea Change in the preferences of People" in Bhagalpur,Bihar

                       

BHAGALPUR: In an era of consumerism, the city dwellers' liking for shopping under one roof, much on the lines of swanky air-conditioned malls in big cities, is being now visible in Bhagalpur as well. The growing fondness for a-la-mode shopping by the customers has resulted in coming up of malls in the Bhadralok's city that has been otherwise quite slow to change. To name a few, Shreyash and V-Mart are already functional whereas big malls with 4-screen multiplexes like GTM Mall, FM Mall and others are also coming up in the city.
While the taste of city dwellers has changed as far as shopping is concerned, it has become a cause for concern for the retail and small shop owners dealing in limited articles. Change in the shopping behaviour of customers has forced the shopowners to renovate and add glamour to their shops. They display an array of goods from the mundane to the luxuries all under one roof so that customers are drawn to their mall.
Dr Archana, a gynaecologist, says earlier she used to go to different shops for buying grocery to toiletries to clothes to other articles, but now she prefers to visit one particular air-conditioned mall that caters to all the needs of her family. She says the mall culture began first with the metros before the idea travelled to the relatively bigger towns. Now customers living in towns like Bhagalpur are happy that they do not have to go to Patna and other bigger places for buying fancy items as they get whatever they want there itself.
Sunil Kumar, a teacher, says malls save a lot of time. "I take my wife along to the mall on week-ends and pick up everything we need for the next week. That way, we save on time and energy and pay more attention to things that matter more like the kids' homework etc."
Chandraprakash Singh who teaches in Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University says that though there is dearth of shopping complexes in Bhagalpur, he prefers shopping at the air-conditioned malls. "Shopping in a comfortable, AC mall has become necessary for people who have paucity of time," he adds.
"There has been a sea change in the preferences of people," said Dinesh Maheshka who has provided land for Bhagalpur's latest shopping mall V-Mart. "As people now prefer malls that offer goods from garments to shoes under one roof, we went in for V-Mart," he added. The brain behind Shreyash shopping mall, S Kishorepuria, said that marketplaces have to develop on the lines of Big Bazaar, Vishal Megamart and other shopping malls. "We cater to the customers' choice ranging from jewellery, crockery, daily use items, confectionary items besides grocery and designer clothes at reasonable and competitive price under one roof," he added.
Acknowledging the change in customers' preferences and their liking for shopping malls, president of Eastern Bihar Industries Association (EBIA) Mukutdhari Agarwal says that the city is witnessing major change on the lines of modern shopping malls. "Shops selling exclusive and limited items are now being challenged by shopping malls,"