Lesson # 24 : Why Select City Walk sells?

Delhi has seen it's share of malls. There was Ansal Plaza the first and once the grandest mall in New Delhi. For years it ruled the market attracting shoppers all over from Delhi and regions near by. Some years down the line the GMS {Gurgaon Mall Syndrome} started and shoppers flocked to Gurgaon where every few blocks a new mall was cropping up. The competition got stiffer and malls felt the heat.

Amidst all of this a new mall came up. Select City Walk, Saket. Right from the start people knew it was going to be big and so did it's founders and today it stands tall. The 6 acre mall is today India's premier shopping destination.The question remains why is it so different?


1. The owners realized that the cost of developing the mall could be recovered by retailing a large portion of the mall. Hence, they brought in svelte thereby earning a part of their costs.

2. The major revenue malls earn is from food. Select City didn't sell out to other food businesses. The food court is standard offering a variety of cuisines with absolutely no competition. The rates are relatively high as the food court is run by the mall owners.

3. Select City also is the hub of premier flagship stores, from Esprit to Tommy Hilfiger.

4. Select City also has exclusive stores of international brands. Zara and Calvin Klien along with Hagen Dasz add to the mall's attractiveness.

5. The Flea market held every Wednesday brings in huge crowds thereby resulting in larger footfall and greater profits.

6. The mall has maintained it's reputation,the authorities keep the mall clean and run it efficiently. Thus, consumers get a much better shopping experience and choose it over other malls every single time.

7. Select City also charges an hourly parking rate unlike other malls which sort of adds to their revenue.

8. Select City is probably one of the first malls to introduce open shops in the country. Small spaces on each floor are given to retailers who cannot afford larger shops or do not wish to buy shops. Hence, Select City earns a major chunk from rent as rents range anywhere between 650-750 per sq foot.*

So the next time you visit Select City take a closer look at the little things and you'll figure out why some businesses work and others do not.

Loads of Business Sense

-Doodle
*Source : Wikipedia

Lesson # 23 :Tulipomania and What We Should Learn From It

Tulipomania or the Tulip Bubble refers to the exponential growth in the price of tulips and its subsequent fall. It took place in the Netherlands in the late 1630's  and was one of the world's first recorded instances of an economic bubble. At the bubble's peak, the price of an ordinary tulip bubble was so astronomical that a nice Dutch villa by the river cost as much as a single tulip bubble.  
Tulips have no uses except their aesthetic value (unlike other commodities like gold or silver or even diamonds, all of which have other uses). So why did such a trivial flower cost ten times as much as a skilled craftsman's yearly wages?


One obvious reason that many economists cite was the novelty of a certain kind of tulip, which increased the demand for tulips several folds (Similar, in my opinion, to the novelty of Tech IPOs during the Dot-Com in 1999). Novelty of a good and the promises of unlimited potential always cause mass hysteria and demand for the product. Another reason was the scarce supply of the tulip bubble in the Netherlands at that point of time (People had started hoarding tulip bubbles). Yet another reason was that the tulip had become a highly coveted luxury good and a status symbol, an indicator of wealth and power.

When there was finally a correction in the price of the tulip flower, the Dutch economy was in shock. People were left with useless tulip bulbs that were suddenly worthless. The Tulip Bubble was first chronicled in Chrles Mackay's book  Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. In Mackay's account, panicked tulip speculators sought help from the government. The government declared that  that anyone who had bought contracts to purchase bulbs in the future could void their contract by payment of a 10% sum. 

The most important lesson to learn here is that buying anything due to mass hysteria and speculation is wrong. Oftentimes, the price of already overvalued things skyrockets due to consumer hype and then crashes suddenly, leaving invstors empty pocketed. A lot of research and thought should be put into an investment, and one should not follow the crowds blindly.

Happy Investing (Hopefully not in tulips)

Madhav Behl (On Behalf of The Doodle Corporation).