Madurai Mall - Vishaal Mall - after Milan-em mall

In a clear signal of growing urbanisation in the state, Madurai is all set to get its first mall. It will be the second mall in Tamil Nadu outside Chennai, the other being Brookfields Plaza in Coimbatore.

Located near Pandian Hotel, an old landmark in the temple city, Vishaal Mall will have Reliance Trends (along with Footprint) as its anchor store. The other retailers who have signed on for space include the Landmark group's value retail format Max, denim brands Lee and Wrangler and footwear brand Woodlands. Inox is the multiplex partner of the mall, and is likely to open in September . At 2 lakh sqft, it's much smaller than the 15 lakh sqft Express Avenue mall in Chennai (the retail space in EA is 9 lakh sqft) or the 4.5 lakh sqft space of Brookfields.

The mall hopes to get footfalls not just from families in the city, but also the sizeable student population from nearby institutions like the American College and the Lady Doak College . "Madurai is a huge shopping destination for the southern districts . Through this mall, we wanted to open up the market to brands that would like to be part of this market, but have not been able to open yet," says R Ilankovan, chairman of Vishaal Promoters. "The youth of Madurai always complain about having to travel to Chennai or Bangalore to experience a mall and multiplex. Now they can enjoy it in their own city."

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