Do anchor tenants make or break a mall?

Centrally air-conditioned environment with soothing music, high-speed lifts and escalators, an
entertainment arcade, multi-cuisine restaurants, adequate parking space, and a mlange of national
and international brands shopping malls offer a large variation under one roof to the consumer
and ensure the perfect shopping experience. In India, the mall culture picked up momentum a
few years ago with the setting up of malls like Metropolitan and City Centre in Gurgaon near
Delhi, Spencer Plaza in Chennai, Forum in Bangalore and Crossroads in Mumbai, to name a few.
While Delhi leads the rest of the country, followed by Mumbai and then metros like Chennai,
Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Cities like Pune, Coimbatore, Ludhiana,
Lucknow and Kochi are also quickening their pace to cash in on the mall revolution in the retail
sector. This mall revolution seen in the recent years across the country can be largely attributed
to the increasing spending power of the middle class.
The presence of anchor tenants
Shopping malls incorporate an arrangement of co-positioned retail outlets in a widespread area.
A typical mall has one or more anchor stores and a variety of smaller stores. An anchor tenant
being the largest retail outlet in the mall, is chosen on the basis of its potential to attract
customers to the shopping centre in general. Usually department stores act as anchors in regional
and super-regional malls, while supermarkets are typical anchors in community centres. In a
number of cases, multiplexes serve as the perfect anchor tenants. The most popular choices for
anchor tenants include multiplexes, retail outlets and food and beverage outlets like, McDonald's,
Shoppers Stop, Globus, Pantaloon, Lifestyle and hypermarkets like Big Bazaar and Giant, to
name a few.
An anchor store implies a store that is a large entity in terms of size or square footage. It caters to
the needs of people across all ages. It usually has a large variety of sellable items ranging from
clothes to household items from different brands, says Mr Pushpendra N Sharma, founder and
CEO, Mantra Consultants.
Most retailers assert that consumers across the world are lured to malls because of the presence
of well-known anchor stores. These tenants largely become the unique selling proposition (USP)
of the mall as they are usually taken as the center point for creating the identity of the mall.
It is important that an anchor is made a part of a mall, as this will be one of the USP of the mall.
An anchor store might not neccesarily be a large format store, in fact, there are some retailers
who, in spite of being of moderate size, that is approximately 3,000 to 7,000 sq.ft, can also be
called the anchors of a mall, elaborates Mr Kekoo Colah, executive director, Knight Frank India.
Further, the entry of an anchor tenant in a mall encourages other retailers to join the mall. Says
Mr Ashok Bansal, director, Suncity Projects (P) Ltd, Today the market is realistic and every
retailer is guided by his own business plan irrespective of the size of his outlet. Finalising the
deal with the anchor at the early stages helps in ensuring that the project is sold much faster. The
moment a large anchor tenant takes up space in a mall, the mall catches the attention of other
smaller tenants. And to reap maximum benefits a number of these retailers want to get positioned
next to the anchor to ensure footfalls and visibility. As a result, they are ready to work in a
certain price band of rentals.
Says Mr Colah, Anchor tenants get the first mover advantage in a mall, since they are amongst
the first to sign the deal. Their lease period is usually lesser than that of other retailers. An anchor
tenant get these advantages mainly due to two reasons, the first being that they take up a large
amount of space in the mall in terms of sq.ft and because they are the crowd pullers and the

footfalls of a mall largely depend on how strong the anchor is.

On the basis of the advantages that accrue to a developer because of the anchor store, they are
offered a number of benefits in return. Ideally, a smaller retailer should take this fact into
consideration and should clearly outline the pros and cons of being a part of a mall before taking
a decision to invest or not.
Anchor tenants make a mall
Anchors play a very important role in the making of a mall because the stronger and bigger is the
anchor's product mix in terms of total value that a customer would get, the better chance a mall
would stand to get that customer at its door. Strong anchors attract more than 30 per cent of the
total footfall, says Mr Bansal.
An anchor tenant's role, in fact its very presence in the mall is pivotal; smaller retailers invest in
a mall usually after assessing the footfalls that the anchor tenant would attract. Also, an anchor
tenant is usually taken as the basis for positioning a mall. An anchor store inhabiting a large area,
provides a landmark for reference, it adds worth in terms of consumer perception of the entire
area. It also results in a greater inflow of utilities and conveniences. Says Mr Shubhranshu Pani,
retail head, western region, Trammel Crow Meghraj Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd, elaborates,
Anchors in a mall define the project because of their product pricing, their ambience and the
quality of their products and services. They attract a specific quality of consumers for shopping
and usually the smaller retailers take this into consideration before investing in the mall. Smaller
stores are assured of better footfalls and business owing to the presence of mall anchors. If a
particular mall anchor is able to draw more footfalls this will reflect in better business for other
stores in the mall.
On the other hand, it is essential for smaller retailers to understand that just the presence of a
large anchor does not ensure better sales for them as well. Elaborates Mr Kishore Biyani, MD,
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, A retailer should take the decision to invest in a mall on the basis of
his own research, product offering and expectations. We, as an anchor tenant, do not promise any
footfall or conversion rate, we generate footfall but this is only because of what we offer and we
do not take it as our responsibility to generate profits for others. It is ultimately in the hands of an
individual retailer to be successful or fail.
The mall developer finds it easier to sign up other retailers once an anchor has signed up in a
particular mall, as this gives other retailers more confidence in the mall development.
Other retailers who sell impulse products are dependent on the anchor to drive more potential
consumers into the mall. These retailers are not footfall generates, instead they are dependent on
the footfall generated by the anchor and the mall. Therefore, it is because of anchor tenant that
the mall gains the footfall and initial popularity, says Mr Colah.
Impact of an anchor
tenant leaving the mall
An important factor that smaller retailers who invest in a mall because of the anchor tenant
should keep in mind is that if the anchor tenant opts out of the mall, what would be the impact on
their returns?
In case an anchor does opt out of a mall, it is likely to have a negative impact on the mall as well
as the individual retailers existing in the mall. It would largely affect the footfalls and the smaller
retailers would also lose confidence in the mall or the developer, explains Mr Colah.
Besides affecting the footfalls, even the rentals of the mall would drop drastically if the anchor

tenant decides to opt out. Says Mr Sharma, A classic example is that of MGF Plaza Mall, where
Arcus shut shop and the other retailers had no choice but to start re-negotiating rents with the
landlord. At times, it becomes difficult for the landlord to find a tenant for the vacant space
unless the rents are rock-bottom or governed by the interested retailer or anchor tenant.
The anchor tenant might also have to pay a heavy price in case he decides to opt out of a mall. At
the same time, this does not justify the impact that it can have on the remaining retailers.
Says Mr Sharma, In case an anchor decides to vacate there is an extreme penalty clause, where
the anchor has to pay a pre decided compensation to the landlord. In most cases, there is a lockin period, for a minimum for one to three years, before which an anchor store cannot vacate the
mall premises.
On the other hand, it is also a possibility that if the mall is functioning well and is well
established, the impact of an anchor tenant opting out of the mall might not effect the functioning
and the sales of other retailers.