I have been living in Tollygunge area of Kolkata for 21 years.When I was in school we would see the workers of Joy Engineering Works entering through its gates every morning.They made various products which were marketed by Usha. The address was 375 Prince Anwar Shah Road.Sometime in the early nineties this factory closed down.The owners kept the huge property vacant for some time.Then in 2006 this property was handed over to a consortium of builders which included Emami Group, Merlin Group, Sumit Dabriwal and others.Hoardings were put all over the city. Huge ads were put in newspapers.In 2008 South City Mall was thrown open to the public.It was part of a huge project called South City.There are three residential towers in South City.But the spread of South City Mall is horizontal.It is spread over just three floors.There are three anchor stores, Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop and Marks and Spencers.South City is walking distance from where I live.
I visit the mall very often mostly to buy clothes from Pantaloons.Big brands like Reebok, Levis, Titan, Spencers, Sony and many others have retail outlets in the mall. When the mall opened there were huge traffic jams.The presence of this huge mall has brought a lot of small firms to the South City.Which is great for small businesses like mine. The rich, famous and commoners rub shoulders here all the time.There is a multiplex run by Fame on the top floor.