Pantaloon launches Bangalore Central mall

Company release, May 28, 2004

New Delhi

Bangalore Central, India's First and Biggest Seamless Mall in the heart of Bangalore City is ready to redefine and revolutionize the shopping experience in India. Bangalore Central, owned by Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, the leading retailer in India, will be open to public from Saturday, May 15th 2004, in the city's nerve centre, MG Road.

Located in the heart of the city, Bangalore Central houses over 300 brands across categories, such as apparels, footwear and accessories for women, men, children, infant basics, apart from a whole range of Music, Books, Coffee Shop, Food Court, Super Market (Food Bazaar), Fine Dining Restaurant, Pub and Discotheque. The mall also has a separate section for services such as Travel, Finance, Investment, Insurance, Concert/Cinema Ticket Booking, Bill Payments and other miscellaneous services. Bangalore Central also houses Central Square - a dedicated space for product launches, impromptu events, daring displays, exciting shows and art exhibitions.

Bangalore Central conceptualised with a theme and tagline that says "Shop, Eat and Celebrate" has several unique features. Centralized Billing, Customer friendly environment and India's first live Radio Central - an in-house radio station are only some of the many things that the retail giant Pantaloons has in the offing for Bangalore Central's customers.

Bangalore Central helps the brands in unleashing the complete potential of a brand. Bangalore Central, because of its seamless nature offers direct walk-ins to the brand. The consumer gets to experience the brand in a setting that is classy, uniform and bereft of boundaries. The brands at the Mall have the facility to organize in-store brand promotions / launches / schemes and in turn strengthen their image and branding. The brands are also laid out in such a way that it is easy for the customers to locate and access a category in which all the related brands are showcased together. This means that once a customer walks in to the category, all the brands get the customer's attention.

Commenting on the unique format of Bangalore Central Mall, Mr. Kishore Biyani, Managing Director, Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited said, "Bangalore Central is based on the concept of a Seamless Mall with the objective to provide world-class retail experience to customers and brands. We are extending the retail experience beyond just shopping to "Shop, Eat and Celebrate", the spirit that symbolises affluent India. Pantaloons has always been the pioneers in the retail market and with Central we are hoping to create new benchmarks in mall management"

Mr. Muralidharan, Head, Pantaloon Malls, said, "With malls mushrooming, our competitive edge comes from the amount of experience and expertise that Pantaloons has in retail management, and a keen understanding of consumer needs. With Bangalore Central, we have not only created a truly world class mall, but have also created a 'paradigm shift' in the retail segment, that will be tough to emulate."

"At Bangalore Central, both our customers and the brands have an added advantage as compared to the large format malls. The well planned and laid out floor with interiors, common billing, space for individual branding and uniform categorising of various brands at the mall will assure them consistent footfalls, giving them opportunities to convert the walk-ins into purchases." he further added.

About Bangalore Central

Sprawling over 1 lakh 20 thousand sq. ft. area, Bangalore Central has everything a family would need, for a complete shopping experience. The 6 storied Seamless Mall has specific areas dedicated to women, men, children, infants, food and beverages, home appliances and furnishing, toys, play area for children among others.

Bangalore Central is the first of the chain of Central Malls by Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. Central would be opening up their second mall in Hyderabad and third in Pune, called Hyderabad Central and Pune Central respectively, followed by more in other parts of the country.

About Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is today recognized as one of the pioneers in the business of organized retailing in the country with a turnover of Rs 450 crores in the financial year ending June 2003. The company is headquartered in Mumbai with zonal offices at Kolkata and Bangalore. It has presence in lifestyle retailing through 14 Pantaloon Family Stores, and in value retailing through 9 Big Bazaar discount hypermarkets, 14 Food Bazaars-large sized supermarket stores and 5 Gold Bazaar Stores with over 8 -lakh sq. ft. retail space across Kolkata, Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bhuwaneshwar, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chennai, and Gurgaon (Delhi). It has future plans of adding 20-lakh sq ft with Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Food Bazaar and Central Mall, in 2005.

For further information on Bangalore Central, please contact:

Ritika on 98442-57663 or email ritika@brand-comm.com