Lulu Shopping Mall is a shopping mall that is to opened on the 10th of March in the Cochin neighbourhood of Edapally. It will be one of the largest malls in Asia and is built on an area of 16, 98,261 sq ft, with total area for mall alone at 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) and the remaining portion for a premium five-star hotel managed by JW Marriott Hotels. It is anticipated to be the largest mall in India with 1.6 million square feet of Gross Leasable Area, beating the Phoenix mall of Mumbai which has a GLA of 1.34 million square feet. More than 360 outlets including food courts, restaurants, family entertainment zones and a seven-screen multiplex will all come together to make Lulu Shopping. The estimated cost for this project is more than 1500 crore rupees. The mall is run, managed and set up by the EMKE group, a business group with interests in Middle East, Africa and Asia and who’s staff have strong ties to Kerala.

As many as 320 international and national brands have a presence in the mall, out of which 46 are coming to the state for the first time. According to officials, about 30 new brands including Walt Disney and Barbie (Mattel) will come to the mall soon. The first Mac Donald Restaurant in Kerala will be opened at Lulu Mall. The mall will have an indoor ice-skating rink, a 5-D cinema hall, bowling alleys, water rides and electronic games. The mall provides a parking area for over 3,000 vehicles. As soon as it opens Lulu Mall is expected to have huge crowds of people thronging to it’s many stores and facilities and be a landmark for the city & suburb. he mall expects about 50,000 visitors a day and the expected monthly revenue is `80-`100 crore, said the officials.

The complex will house, among many others:

• Lulu Hyper Market (2 Levels)
• a 3500-seated Food Court that has 18 multi-cuisine kitchens and three fine restaurants
• 71,000 sq ft, 8-screen multiplex with fabulous computer games, bowling alleys, rides, and amusement
• Expansively spread check-out counters
• Ample parking space that can easily accommodate up to 3000 vehicles
• Money exchange centres
• Bank counters & ATMs
• 16 pairs of escalators, travelators, elevators, and lifts
• Spacious corridors
• Large glass central atrium with translucent roof
• Facilities for the disabled
• Easy access and exit

Lulu Hypermarket on the ground floor having an area of 25,800 square metres (278,000 sq ft) selling fresh, frozen, canned food, fruits and vegetables, along with butchery, bakery, hot food counters etc. Lulu Department Store on the First floor with 13,500 square metres (145,000 sq ft) of shop floor selling non food items like garments, footwear, luggage, white goods, cosmetics, electronic goods etc. International home furnishing store of area 49,500 square metres (533,000 sq ft). Gross leasable retail space over 19,800 square metres (213,000 sq ft).

I know that you westerns in the US, UK, Canada, Germany etc etc are used to big malls but for us here this is the biggest deal ever! We have smaller malls that are mostly wannabes and they don’t have much in the form of entertainment – except for shopping and some dinning. We are all excited for the international brands as well.