The shopping mall is on the cusp of a major change.From being mere buildings housing stores, they are evolving into becoming an integral part of the community they belong to, places where people spend their leisure time. This is particularly true for a country like India where the weather conditions and the need to move around in a car dictate where people spend their free time! But just when the mall was settling into a routine, came a new medium of sale, in form of e-commerce. People switched over for the convenience and the comfort, the sea of choices, deep discounts and doorstep delivery. The Indian mall developer was jolted out of his comfort zone, as shoppers who once thronged malls were now ordering on phones, computers and tablets, siphoning sales from physical stores. They started facing the heat to reinvent their shopping centres. And what a reinvention it has been. From simply housing well-known chain stores, cinemas and supermarkets,the Indian mall has transformed itself into a FEC – a place where people can eat, watch movies, take part in events and activities, spend quality time in play zones with their children, and maybe shop some! Gyms, supermarkets, hotels, co-working space, pop-up stores, expanded food courts, movie theatres and event spaces are all filling up the retail space in the malls, bringing in footfalls and pulling back customers and revenue from e-commerce. In the new and improved Shopping Centre News, we bring you an analysis on why shopping malls are the ‘the’ retail spaces of tomorrow and how fashion and lifestyle play a major role in bringing in the shoppers. The feature analyses concerns from both retailers’ and shopping malls’ perspective and also talks about ways to deal with these challenges in a mega round table discussion that took place at IMAGES Group’s recently the concluded flagship event, ‘India Fashion Forum 2019’. The edition also brings you a perspective of small business ideas apt for a mall, in the form of kiosks which is becoming one of the leading trends in the shopping malls today. This business idea has been advocated globally in developed countries for decades, even though it has picked up pace in India very recently. At last, we hope to find this redesigned issue crisp, knowledgeable and valuableto your business as always. Log on to our website www. indiaretailing.comto read more informative articles and analyses on innovative trends and developments in the shopping centre industry on a global stage with an emphasis on India.