Retailers and brands said the current recovery is impressive considering malls in various cities operate with various restrictions. Prominent malls from Chandigarh to Delhi NCR to Bengaluru have reported a sharper rebound in June-July this year compared to the same months last year with sales reaching 70-80% of pre-pandemic levels.
Some malls such as Select Citywalk in Delhi are resorting to crowd control by intermittently closing gates in peak hours on the weekends amid a surge in footfalls, and retailers are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that a third wave of Covid-19 does not to strike before Diwali in November.
“Footfalls in the current unlock is double of what was in unlock one,” said Nirupa Shankar, executive director of Brigade Group that operates two malls in Bengaluru where shopping centres were allowed to reopen in the first week of July.
