Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 05:05 AM ISTहिंदी में पढें
Business Standard
Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

What makes Khan Market in Delhi India's most expensive retail location?

"The monthly rent for one of the latest shops that got a new tenant is Rs 8.75 lakh for a space of 464 sq ft

Khan Market

Vinay gupta, co-owner of Sri Hari DiaGems, and his wife

Veenu Sandhu
Khan Market is not for sale,” says Vinay Gupta, the co-owner of Shri Hari DiaGems. He says it with a sense of pride as well as a tinge of disappointment. Gupta, whose family has been in the jewellery business for over 200 years, has been running his shop on rent at Khan Market for the last six years. For at least five of those six years, he says, he has been scouting for a place to buy in the market. “But no one is willing to sell even an inch of the space they own here,” he rues. “Why will they, when they make so much money from the rent?”
 
Khan Market is India’s costliest retail location. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Main Streets Across the World report, which tracks 462 top retail locations around the globe and ranks them by their rental value, the monthly rentals at Khan Market stand at Rs 1,250 per square ft. But traders here dismiss this as an old figure that does not do justice to the market’s iconic high-street status.

“The monthly rent for one of the latest shops that got a new tenant is Rs 8.75 lakh for a space of 464 sq ft,” says Sanjeev Mehra, president of the Khan Market Traders Association. “Compare this to 1994, when the rent was Rs 15,000.”

Mehra’s store opened in the early 1950s, when Khan Market was set up to rehabilitate people who had migrated to India from Pakistan. His son is now the fourth generation of the family to be a part of it.

What started as a neighbourhood bazaar of utility shops — groceries, fruit and vegetables, toys, barber, meat — has transformed into one of the country’s most sought-after markets where Indian and international brands would give an arm and a leg to have a presence.

Inside SodaBottleOpenerWala

The 15.5 acre, narrow, horseshoe-shaped market, with two rows of shops, stores and restaurants, has an old-world charm. An inner-lane, roughly paved with bricks and largely housing eateries and shops that sell anything from designer-wear to quirky bags, beer mugs, coasters and shot glasses, separate the two. Among the most popular eateries here is the retro-look The Big Chill Café, the success of which led its owners, Aseem Grover and Fawzia Ahmed, to also open an exclusive — and sinful — bakery that goes by the name of The Big Chill Cakery. In stark contrast to it is Khan Chacha, famous for its tikka and kebab rolls, which started out as a hole in the wall but is now a full-fledged first-floor restaurant. Here’s a market where you will find all kinds of cuisine on a platter: Thai, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, African, Lebanese.

A round of the market reveals its range. Alongside brands like Vero Moda, Rosso Brunello, Ritu Beri, Puma, Amrapali, Anokhi, Adidas and Clarks, you will find book stores like Bahri Sons and Faqir Chand that have stood here from the time the market came up and appear unruffled by the threat of e-tailers and e-books. Traditional businesses like an old tailor’s shop, a no-frills barber shop that patrons continue to come to years on or pet stores that don’t charge a bomb — all rub shoulders with up-scale boutiques and hip eateries. “It’s an eclectic mix that reflects many facets of India,” says Samrat Som, head, Royal Enfield Apparel & Accessories Business at Eicher Motors.

Expats come visiting Khan Market often

When it decided to open its gear boutique in Delhi, Khan Market was the obvious choice for Royal Enfield. Having been here for more than a year, Som says the market has allowed Enfield to experiment with a new model in retail: combining gear with motorcycle.

But it’s not just its quaint charm that makes Khan Market this popular. One key reason is the enviable location it enjoys, sitting bang in the middle of Lutyen’s Delhi, not far from the embassies, close to Parliament, the ministries and government offices. Little wonder then that this is among the first places that embassies direct expats to.

Until recently, Congress President Sonia Gandhi was a regular here. There was time she would come to buy vegetables and fruit at the market — everything, including the exotic ones, available around the season. It’s not unusual to spot Rahul Gandhi walking around the market or sitting in one of the cafés. Sports stars like Mohammad Azharuddin and actors like Rani Mukerji also drop by.

It is this visibility and prestige associated with the market that has brands making a beeline for it. One person compares it to Paris’s Avenue des Champs Élysées, the world’s third most expensive retail location. “If you are not at Champs Élysées, then you are not counted as a luxury brand,” he says. “The same holds true for Khan Market.”

It’s a pleasant winter afternoon on a week day. But the market is bustling with people of all age groups, chicly dressed in silk saris, designer wear, stilettoes or boots. Demonetisation has hit this market as well, but the crowds haven’t diminished.

There was a time when the market had 156 shops (on the ground floor) and 74 residences (on the floors above). Today, most of the residents have moved out and 44 restaurants occupy many of these original flats.

Among them is SodaBottleOpenerWala. “We’d always like to place SodaBottleOpenerWala on the ground floor with high visibility and in a high footfall area,” says A D Singh, managing director, Olive Bar & Kitchen of which SodaBottleOpenerWala is one of the bands. “Khan Market, unfortunately, doesn't have many ground floor options that meet the requirement of a restaurant.”

SodaBottleOpenerWala is located on the first and second floors. Singh says the quality of clientele and the number of people coming to Khan Market overcomes that hitch. Besides, adds Mohit Balachandran, brand head and cuisine director at SodaBottleOpenerWala, “we’ve observed that the numbers of expats guests are much higher in this outlet and many of them are quite loyal to the brand.”

Turning residences into restaurants has, however, come with its share of problems. It has put a strain on infrastructure. Mehra has been fighting for an underground parking but it is nowhere in sight yet. Until recently, criss-crossing overheard wires were also a safety hazard. But those now run underground. Questions have also been raised on safety in case of a fire.

An active traders’ association has helped. Parking is free, the VIP market that demands high security has 24 CCTV cameras and paramilitary personnel guarding all entrances. Even the 25 parking attendants are trained by the Delhi police. Hawkers and vendors are a strict no.

But the rents, which see a 20 per cent increase every three years, can pinch hard. On top of that, one has to pay a six-month security deposit — a neat Rs 40 lakh or so. So, every few months, some shop shuts down and new occupants come in. This time round, an apparel store has shut down and in its place Apple is making an entry.

Many also look at a Khan Market address as a temporary investment. They set shop here, build a clientele and then move out to a more affordable location. 

“It’s largely the original owners still running their shops and old tenants who make a profit,” says Sunil Jain of Sari Centre whose handloom sari store has been here for the last 60 years. “Yes, there are a handful of lucky old tenants who pay between Rs 50 and Rs 500 a month for their shop,” adds Mehra.

The others pay through their teeth and stick on — till as long as they can afford to.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Dec 04 2016 | 12:18 PM IST

Explore News