Three individuals give their take on the mall culture and the pros and cons of the growth of malls: David Shakya, 22, Program coordinator of NYFB (Nepal Youth Business foundation), Amit Bajracharya, 23, student and District Secretary of Rotaract District Committee, and Smreeti Shrestha, 20, a recent graduate from St. Xaviers, shared their ideas and opinions regarding the budding mall culture.[break]
When asked about why they frequent malls, Amit and Smreeti echoed that they often visit the place for movies, hanging out and for shopping. Amit said, “When all my friends meet up and have no place to go, we consider malls to be our last option. Since we get everything under the same roof, it saves time”. He further added that going to malls is a better option of networking as opposed to staying home on facebook .
Malls are a complete package and the benefits of shopping there plentiful as everything is easily accessible. “It even has been providing employment to many people,” said Smreeti who also frequents different malls in Kathmandu.
Though there are many benefits and advantages of malls, there are some negative aspects to it. “The sad part is that it is a bit expensive and when people visit such places they feel the need to upgrade themselves and since the place sells a lot of products, in a way it also urges people to get in to a different lifestyle,” said David. The business strategy and the way they market the products are quite tempting and so frequenting such malls may lure customers to overspend.
He added, “I don’t visit malls that often and I don’t consider malls as a hangout place because I don’t think window shopping is a way to hangout. But it all depends upon how people perceive and want to hang out.”
They all agreed that the malls don’t have proper supervisors or experts who can guide the customers. “When we visit the malls, there are [a] variety of things to choose from so I think there should be some expert in the food department and clothes department who can guide us and cater products according to our requirement”, shared David.
He further added that the shops should not only think of having high profits but should cater to the comfort, requirement and needs of the customers as well so that they can ensure permanent customers. David ended by saying malls should develop a culture so that the customers can benefit as well. Amit couldn’t agree more when he said, “There’s a possibility for this concept and moreover I think like in foreign countries, the malls should have a map and provide the general information regarding the products they provide through website, hoarding board or catalogues as we are unaware of what all we can get.”
When asked about the lack of recreational places for the youth in Kathmandu, all three of them agreed that Kathmandu is undoubtedly in need of places other than malls for leisure time. David shared that when planning a gathering with friends, there are hardly any proper places other than restaurants. “We don’t have enough conference halls, proper closed halls for concerts and other events,” Amit contributed.
Smreeti added that since 2011 is Nepal Tourism year, we need to buckle up and focus more on preserving and renovating our cultural heritage. Since most of the youths are working these days, they wish they had more places like night markets to go to after work. Malls are definitely a sign of infrastructural development but Nepal also needs to invest on other things as well. They all agreed that Kathmandu is in dire need of proper recreational places other than malls.
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