Realty-induced makeover this!

From a sleepy residential locale, New BEL Road has metamorphosed into a hub of hep eateries, branded showrooms, factory outlets and shopping marts – the future trend?
NIHARIKA MANDHANA

Bangalore should ideally be called ‘makeover’city. Places that were virtually dead not so long ago have rapidly transformed into hubs of commercialisation. A Brigade Road or a Commercial Street seems to be springing up in different partsof the city, wherever space permits.After 100 ft Road,Indiranagar and Marathahalli went commercial, it is now the turn of New BEL Road (Raj MahalVilas area).

This stretch, adjoining Ramaiah Hospital, is now a destination for popular brands,restaurants and supermarkets,courtesy its proximity to affluent residential localities like Dollars Colony, Ashwathnagar,Sanjaynagar and Sadashivnagar. Less than two years ago, all you would found here was the lone cafe, an odd Udupi joint and a string of medical stores. Now, the road is littered with factory outlets and discount stores of leadingbrands like Levis Strauss,Scullers, United Colors of Benetton, Adidas, Reebok,Indigo Nation, Spykar, Bata and Excalibur.

There are also a variety of eateries and hang-out spots ranging from Shanthi Sagar and Nandhini to Beijing Bites,Dominos, Pizza Hut, Coffee Day, Barista and Sweet Chariot. Supermarkets have also setup shop here.

Amidst these new stores, theold look of New BEL Road has not faded away completely.One would still find rows of match box-sized, multi-brand retail stores selling low-cost products and export surplus goods, furniture outlets, teastalls, dry cleaners etc.

The future of New BEL Roadlooks very promising. Several three to four-storeyed buildings are under construction or up for rent, indicating the likelihood of more showrooms,shopping marts and eateries coming up. With the volte-face change, rentals on this stretch have spiralled considerably.The rate for property measuring 2000-3000square feet is Rs 60-80 per sqft, depending on the extent ofoccupation, choice of floor,parking space etc.

But, young Bangaloreans feel such growth must be monitored. “One of the biggest challenges for this road, much like Bangalore city in general, is the traffic situation.The entire stretch, accommodating two-way traffic,is narrow. To add to the chaos,several by-lanes open onto the main road, resulting in traffic congestion. Also, parking options on this road are very limited,with very few places providing basement parking. People therefore park their vehicles on the perpendicular 80 ftRoad and other bylanes. These problems could slacken the growth momentum, barring which New BEL Road seems tobe on a roll!” warned a resident of the area and collegian Deepak B Rao.

Shop till you go broke

With the ubiquitous sales on, Bangaloreans are splurging like never before — on branded merchandise to street ware — the sky’s the limit for the buyer

NIHARIKA MANDHANA

Bangalore city is on a shopping binge and how! And why not? After all, Dalal Street isn’t the only one offering the now-or-never buying opportunities! After the Diwali, Christmas and New Year shopping frenzy, if you thought people would let their purses breathe easy, think again! It’s sale time once more in Bangalore: The sales which began around Sankranthi, went on to Republic Day, stretch till Valentine’s Day and then Ugadi. So, from apparel and shoes to furniture and groceries, name it and it’s on sale. All hell breaks loose during the weekends. People are loosening their purse strings in fancy stores, malls, hyper-markets, department stores and shopping arcades.

Brand lovers are having a field day. Big and small brands are offering discounts ranging from 10 to 50 per cent on all their merchandise. While most of these sales are on till the second week of February, a few are slated to go on till April.

A sales representative at the outlet of a leading international brand on Vittal Mallya Road said, “We haven’t seen such numbers in a very long time. These last few days have been very busy. So many styles in Tshirts and jackets have already been sold out.”
For youngsters, the sale season is the best season to shop. Collegian Aditya M said, “Most youngsters buy stuff at sales. However, we find it hard to park our vehicles near sale areas during the weekend.”
So, lap up all the offers till April, for the next big sale is only around Diwali time.