THE MERCHANTS: BUCKING THE TREND
Step aside, Pacific Mall, there’s a new Taj in town
In response to the flood of immigrants into Brampton, Scarborough and Mississauga, giant South Asian malls are springing up
V. RADHIKA
Special to The Globe and Mail
November 1, 2008
The fragrance of incense is everywhere inside GTA Square, Scarborough’s newest mall.
The scent pervades shops selling vibrantly coloured saris, salwar kurtas (tunics with pyjama-like trousers) and framed pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses, while the Tamil equivalent of Muzak – devotional tunes and songs from Tamil films – wafts from loudspeakers.
“I am glad I do not have to go far to buy Indian stuff like clothing, DVDs or curios,” said Revathy Iyer, who lives near the two-storey, 40,000-square-foot mall, which opened two months ago on Finch Avenue East near Markham Road.
GTA Square is Toronto’s first indoor mall dedicated to a South Asian clientele. Four more South Asian malls are scheduled to open by 2011, including the 240,000-square-foot Sitara and the 80,000-square-foot T. Junction, both in Scarborough, the 160,000-square-foot Great Punjab Business Centre in Mississauga and the 220,000-square-foot Taj Centre in Brampton.
The developers of these South Asian projects are bucking the trend on traditional suburban malls – but theirs will act as cultural hubs, catering to a specific ethnic audience.
One mall even aims to revive a slice of the subcontinent’s history. “We are trying to create the aura of pre-partition Punjab through our design, which is influenced by the great buildings of the Punjab,” says Hakiram Boparai, the developer behind the Great Punjab Business Centre, which is slated to open next month. The two-storey plaza will mimic the architecture of Lahore and Amritsar, major cities in Punjab province, which was split between India and Pakistan at partition in 1947.
The design of the Taj Centre is inspired by the Taj Mahal. T. Junction’s parking lot – which will be used for night markets – conjures up the courtyards of traditional south Indian homes. Inside, the malls will combine retail with professional offices, and in the case of the more ambitious projects, banquet halls and conference centres.
“Unlike traditional commercial developments, many of these malls and plazas combine retail, professional office and in some cases religious institutions,” says Sandeep Agrawal, an associate professor at Ryerson Univsersity’s School of Urban and Regional Planning. He cites the Jaipur Gore Plaza in Brampton, which opened in 2005 and includes a Hindu temple.
GTA Square and Sitara are helmed by Chinese developers.
Eddie Woo, the real-estate broker responsible for GTA Square, says the idea came from the successful indoor malls aimed at Chinese patrons. “Everywhere the Chinese go [in the GTA] they have a mall,” he said, “whereas the South Asians, whose numbers are roughly the same, have no indoor mall.”
Seafood importer and developer David Lam, who is touting Sitara as the largest indoor South Asian mall in North America, originally planned to target Chinese customers. He switched gears when he realized South Asian immigrants were flooding the neighbourhoods surrounding his site in northeast Scarborough.
The developers of all four upcoming projects say they don’t expect the economic downturn to stall their plans. Still, at GTA Square, business is not exactly booming. Many vacant, papered-over storefronts greet customers with signs reading: “Exciting new retail!!! Opening soon!!” Others announce “for lease.”
Sameer Patel, a director with Tate Economic Research Inc. who has worked with developers on other South Asian plazas in Mississauga, says these projects face challenges. “Unlike the previous generation, the new immigrants are young, savvy and have high household income,” he says. “If they want to buy electronics, for example, they will go to the best store irrespective of who owns it. They will not shop in a South Asian mall just because they are South Asians.”
Balakumar Kumarasamy, proprietor of Athishta Dollar’N Gift at GTA Square, remains hopeful. Business is brisk enough to pay the mortgage on his store and sundry bills.
“It is early yet, but I am sure in the coming days it will surely pick up,” he says.
The new South Asian market
Developers in the GTA are planning to open four new malls aimed at South Asian customers by 2011. Another South Asian mall has just opened.
Mall name Location (intersection) Size (square feet) Completion date
1. TAJ CENTRE / Highway 7 and Sun Pac, Brampton / 220,000 / 2011
2. GREAT PUNJAB BUSINESS CENTRE / Drew and Bramalea, Mississauga / 160,000 / Dec. 2008
3. T. JUNCTION / Warden and Eglinton, Scarborough / 80,000 / Sept. 2009
4. GTA SQUARE / Middlefield and Finch, Scarborough / 40,000 / Open
5. SITARA / McNicoll and Markham, Scarborough / 240,000 / 2011
TRISH McALASTER / THE GLOBE AND MAIL
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081101.MALL01/TPStory/
