Kochi was always a preferred destination among friends and family when it came to shopping and hanging out. But clearly, there was the metro life missing at Kochi which is/was surprising. There was only the Bay Pride, marine drive or the Esplanade near convent junction when it came to malls. Well, even they weren’t malls at all.
But now, there’s a brand new mall that’s launched near Bypass junction, the Oberon mall, Kochi. Which I think is the best thing that has happened in the city as far as development is concerned. This one is huge with four-five floors and exclusive shops complete with food court and all that jazz. I happen to visit the place and here are a few snaps.
The mall is only partially occupied right now as only Reliance’s outlets have started with a Reliance Time Out shop which is more like the “Landmark” in Chennai and a Shoe store from them again. A large part is under construction and the grape wine tells me that the top floors is being occupied by Dileep the movie actor, where he is planning a food court. And there are a lot more that is getting ready – a KFC joint, a game station (woohoo), and a lot more.
The whole mall looks more or less like the Chennai City center minus the movies so I’m happy that it’s here. And one really great thing is that it has a well planned parking lot which is THE BEST thing that can happen to a mall in Cochin. You know that in cochin if there’s something that’s got everyone frustrated – that’s the parking space.
Well, do visit the place and see what you find.
(Psst…there’s an even more bigger one coming up at Edapally, Cochin from the Lulu group where there’ll be multiplexes too. Looking forward to it)
Looks like we found the next location for our Cochin Bloggers meeting
And its just 1.5 KM from my house.
haaa finally !!!!!!!!!! and guess what .. its just walkable distance for me, I mean 2 minutes walk .. hmmm I am excited, I was missing kfc after leaving bangalore .. lol
@ Binny
exactly !!! come on guys, let’s plan it !!
btw, do they have wifi there ?
No I dont think they have wifi yet…but IM ready for a compromise.
Hi mani karthik…
dont worry man… in the third floor of the building, construction of 4 multiplex’s are in progress….
Each with 130 seating capacity. The works are in the last stage and according to the owner of the project, Sri. gulfar muhammed, the work will be completed by this december.. So no need to worry abt movies.. I personally visited the construction.
And in LULU, there will be seven multiplex.
Thanks for the info Shibin…thats exciting news…December is close..very good !
What a co-inky-dink.
I just visited the mall today. Was really surprised. They seem to be doing a great job so far. I just hope they know what they are doing. The success of malls typically depends on the spending youth. The spending capacity of youth here is not as rampant as in Chennai or Bangalore. It’s more of a family led shopping experience around here. While that is required, it may not really justify such a large scale investment.
Once smart city develops, I’m certain this would boom. But right now, I’m about 50-50 on this. Let’s hope for the best. It DOES seem cool.
It’s a good idea in m y opinion. I dont know if they are targeting the youth. The youth is like a bonus here. If they are here ready to spend now, theyre welcome or wait for smart city to happen, then that’s fine too. I dont thnk this is for the youth, but family. And thats a good target as the volume is ample and the spending power is cool too. Youth may come more in number buy may not have the same spending power as a family. But the interesting fact is that there is a common axis between these two sectors. The “youth family” ? To which I belong. We are the ones who will spend much more than any one else in my opinion. I hope this is exactly the crowd youll see companies targeting now. Easy to convince, credit card empowered, shopaholics, who loves malls.
2 cnts here.
wow …thats gud news..and frm th snaps it seems to be cool hangout place…i was at blore for more than 2 years and forum and garuda malls were the best hangout places i have evr been…what abt the multiplexes..hav any idea who’s gonna run that…? hope pvr comes to kochi..m missing kochi ..hope that kochi becomes the best metro..keep updating..
Not sure if PVR is coming up but Lulu will hold some of the best multiplexes in the country. It’s got seven if I were to believe the grapewine. Bangalore is kinda satuarted now, ppl like to move to newer places now I guess. heh!
multiplex in Oberon will run by Cinemax…and Forum kochi will have 5-7 screens from PVR.
another is getting ready from Fun Cinemas in The souk, Vytilla…
also 5 screen from Inox in Summit mall, M G Road, next to Abad Plaza…