Discovering Lahore’s Vibrant Shopping Mall Culture

Ever heard the term “Lahore Lahore aye”!

Located in the north eastern part of Pakistan, Lahore is a city known for its architecture, history, culture, busy markets and delicious mouthwatering cuisines. It’s a perfect blend of historical treasures and today’s contemporary lifestyle. Be it the vibrant streets of the old city bazars or the modern architecture, it’s a city that promises an experience for everyone.

PARADIGM SHIFT IN SHOPPING BEHAVIOURS

The recent modernization of the infrastructure in Lahore has allowed for an increase interest from across the province and the country. We witness an increase in high-rise buildings, numerous housing schemes, entertainment venues and high end educational institutes. People have now moved from the low end roadside traditional bazaars to high-end sophisticated malls where they find everything under one roof.

It wasn’t until the early 90’s that the concept of “mall shopping” was introduced in Pakistan. Although it was common in the west it still hadn’t rubbed elbows in Pakistan. Park towers, in the city of Karachi, was the first ever mall to operate in Pakistan. For the first time the customers were exposed to all brands under one roof. This started the trend of in-mall shopping thus shaping the shopping culture in a new unexpected way and set the momentum for various other malls in different cities of Pakistan. Pace led the mall market in Lahore followed by many other.

MALL SHOPPING CULTURE

Lahore is a shopper’s paradise. I think we would all agree. Be it the shoes, clothes, bags you name it and Lahore has it. Its versatile and broad market makes it a leader on the shopping board. Lahore has been cashing on this also. It has invested in many shopping arenas throughout the city making it a shopping hub.

The development of malls has bought all the brands to people door steps. Be it Packages, Emporium, Mall of Lahore or Fortress every mall has something to offer. If we talk about Packages Mall, not only is it the biggest mall in Lahore it also is one of a kind in Pakistan. It’s the best mall in Lahore that targets the high end customers. Malls like this have carved the path for malls in various cities of Pakistan.

The shopping malls have certainly changed people’s lives in more than one ways. “The shopping experience in the malls in Khyber Pakhtukhwa has tremendously changed our lives in many ways,” says Eiman Jamil, an English language training consultant based in Peshawar.

MALLS IN PAKISTAN:

When it comes to shopping and entertainment citizens happily welcome new platforms. With the shift in paradigm towards shopping the need for malls has also increased.  According to the new statistics, there are a total of 8110 malls in Pakistan which are operational with many more in the pipeline. As the momentum grew so did the high end commercialized market. The trend of shopping in high end malls gave way to the development of small and large scale malls in the country.

Interestingly, Lucky mall located in Karachi, is not just the biggest mall in Pakistan but also the biggest mall in South Asia, with the covered area of about 3.4 million square feet. This clearly shows how the mall shopping culture is booming in Pakistan.  But then again who doesn’t like to shop right? And that too if provided with an experience then why not!