After facing pandemic-triggered headwinds for 19 months, malls in Mumbai and its satellite cities are on track to reclaim their zing. Business at some of these malls has touched 90 per cent of what it was in October 2019. As they expect more buyers to hit retail stores during Diwali, mall owners are confident of making a 100 per cent recovery by December. With the Mumbai Metropolitan Region opening up amid a growing number of fully vaccinated citizens, mall managements are hopeful of business running full steam.

Rajendra Kelkar, president (malls) at The Phoenix Mills, said the business has swiftly recovered in the past two to three weeks. “Apart from electronics and apparel, jewellery, home decor and other sectors are also doing good. As the travel industry is bouncing back, customers are thronging to stores related to travel and tourism. Overall it’s going good and we expect an increase in footfall in the coming week,” he said. The malls reopened two months ago, but business was lacklustre in initial days as many of their staffers, mostly youngsters, had not been vaccinated. From 20 per cent in those days, it began heading north with Ganeshotsav, followed by Navratri.