MAX, Westside, FBB, Celio Reliance B2B all gearing up to open in Belagavi

Many brands today position themselves high on the aspirational quotient. A branded watch, handbag, shoes, soft drink, mobile, car…the list is expansive.

Tier II India is today where America was in the 80s – eager to be seen with the most happening brands in the world. No wonder then that cities, including Belagavi, have seen an influx of branded showrooms with mostly the youth and the deep-pocketed guys frequenting these showrooms and outlets.

Belagavi of today, is a classic example of this phenomenon. As much as we try to fit into the Big city bracket, we cannot deny that our’s is a Tier II city, vibrant, developing, but not yet developed. But that has not dampened the spirits of the people of Belagavi who shop on par with the metro denizens.

A cursory calculation of the branded outlets in Belagavi revels names such as Global Desi, Biba, SOCH, FabIndia, VIP Lounge, US Pizza, Levi’s, Peter England, Mega Mart, Reliance Footprint, Soch, Pantaloons, Inmark, L’Oreal Professionals, McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Dominos etc. Although we still yearn for a Pizza Hut/Burger King, Barista the above list is impressive enough, considering we thronged to Pune/ Bengaluru/ Mumbai to have a dekko of the branded stuff.

If this was not enough sources have confirmed that Dr. B R Ambedkar road which has most of these high end shops will now also boast to have MAX, Westside, FBB, Celio. Reliance B2B is coming up on Bauxite road.

One wonders about the sudden surge in disposable income of the tier-II cities. Many stores encouraged you to purchase upto a higher limit just so that you could avail of certain discounts. Many fall prey to these tactics.

Even if Belagavi remains devoid of any major industries and political apathy tries to push it down, the people of Belagavi will not lie down. They have risen; The world’s corporates have taken note. That’s reason enough to smile!

With inputs from Swatee Jog.