Haha my friends buy their dope from Badda. Where do you buy yours from dopekhor?
i hardly got anything from dhaka mine used to come from narshindi (mohini) and rangpur

if i had to get anything from dhaka it was from karwan bazar!

Interesting write-up with a few intriguing views. I have serious doubts about 5% of our population, i.e. 7.5 million people having incomes that are higher than the per capital income of the US. USD 45,000 itself would be a conservative estimation of the top of my head. USD 45,000 = BDT 3,150,000, assuming USD 1 = BDT 70. Dividing by 12 equals approximately BDT 262,500. You guys really think there are 7.5 million people in Bangladesh with monthly incomes of at least two and a half lakh? You gotta be kidding me.
what u say in good old bangla "ganza khaiya likse heta!"

Makes sense. Inequality in BD isnt that high compared to Pak or Ind. Also make note guys that lot of ppl these days have good salaries. The CFO of HSBC makes like 16 lakh per month.
is he bengali?

the trust just isnt there, my family always goes to delhi to get their desi clothes hardly have i seen them get stuff from there, the lowest quality shit from india is sold at super high prices here those who know their game and arent at the price tag showing off end of the spectrum are a different story!

We really need someone to do some research and find out for real.I read in the papers a few months ago that there are about 36000 people in Bangladesh with assets valued over one million dollars.
dude 2% of the people 98% of the wealth this is why u see disparity all over the world

Makes sense. Inequality in BD isnt that high compared to Pak or Ind. Also make note guys that lot of ppl these days have good salaries. The CFO of HSBC makes like 16 lakh per month.

Is that the CFO of HSBC branch in Dhaka? That's a lot of money for Bangladesh, I mean over quarter million dollars annually. I wonder how much GoB taxes him. Over here Uncle Sam would have taken a cool 40% of it.

Just eyeballing it, but there are about 40 private banks, a number of insurance companies and ofcourse companies like Square, Bashundhara, Beximco, PHP, AK Khan, Akij group and others (not even mentioning the hundreds of garments and textile factory owners). There is a pretty sizable number of rich people living in Bangladesh (but small as a proportion to the population). However, as Dope mentioned, these bengali 'super-rich' are more likely to go abroad to do some of their shopping.

However, if JFP really can open some high-end stores, then it might encourage some of those super-rich to shop in Bangladesh.

^^ Its easy to believe there are about 10,000 garment units with owners who have $1 million in Banks. They would be netting 100K just from the interest. Not to mention other thousands of export based private industries. Also from the 6 million+ expatriates there are bound of be at least 15-20% millionaires (non mid-east labor workers). When you add all these up, Wealthy individuals plus their nuclear dependents (Wife, Kids) I think it probably is 7.5 million people as the article mentions.

^^ Absolute impossibility. Total nominal GDP of Bangladesh is less than 70 billion for about 150 million people. If the above figures were true, then just those 7.5 million would have a GDP of 337.5 billion. We have made a lot of progress but we are still a long way from those kinds of numbers.

^^ Its easy to believe there are about 10,000 garment units with owners who have $1 million in Banks. They would be netting 100K just from the interest. Not to mention other thousands of export based private industries. Also from the 6 million+ expatriates there are bound of be at least 15-20% millionaires (non mid-east labor workers). When you add all these up, Wealthy individuals plus their nuclear dependents (Wife, Kids) I think it probably is 7.5 million people as the article mentions.

You were going in the right direction, but the math didn't add up. Say instead of 10,000 there are 100,000(crazy number, I know) industries where the owner has million plus dollars in the bank. That's still only 1 lakh people. Add to that another 50-60,000 politicians, goondas and other miscreants like smugglers who might earn several lakh each month. The expatriate population is around 7 million of which nearly 4 million are in the gulf countries and they are 90% laborer bros. In the US, there are hardly 300,000 Bangladeshis, and believe me we might earn in dollars lakhs of taka, but we have pittance left over at the end of every month. A few are super rich but thats the minority and probably aren't more than several thousand at best. It's worse in the UK where 40-50% are at the bottom of UK society. So what do we have: at a stretch, 2 lakh in BD and another 2-3 lakh overseas who can be reasonably considered to be well off.

In conclusion, we may have half a million Bangladeshis who are reasonably well off to shop at Jamuna Park. The rest will go there to enjoy the atmosphere and some tuk tak kinakata or tanki mara purposes.

^^ Absolute impossibility. Total nominal GDP of Bangladesh is less than 70 billion for about 150 million people. If the above figures were true, then just those 7.5 million would have a GDP of 337.5 billion. We have made a lot of progress but we are still a long way from those kinds of numbers.
lol there u go....

^^ Absolute impossibility. Total nominal GDP of Bangladesh is less than 70 billion for about 150 million people. If the above figures were true, then just those 7.5 million would have a GDP of 337.5 billion. We have made a lot of progress but we are still a long way from those kinds of numbers.

Easily possible. First of all I never mentioned that every single person of the 7.5 million people have $1 million+, mostly likely 1-2 million people who have $1 million+ in asset and have dependents (wife, kids, parents) who add up to 7.5 million people.

Also GDP and Wealth is completely different things. The US has a GDP of 14 Trillion Dollars whereas Wealth in the US is a staggering 55 Trillion Dollars (http://www.federalreserve.gov/RELEASES/z1/Current/data.htm). BD's GDP is around 94 Billion Dollars in 2008 and BD's wealth could easily be a factor of 2-4 times higher than its GDP as this is the norm in every country. (more or less).

You were going in the right direction, but the math didn't add up. Say instead of 10,000 there are 100,000(crazy number, I know) industries where the owner has million plus dollars in the bank. That's still only 1 lakh people. Add to that another 50-60,000 politicians, goondas and other miscreants like smugglers who might earn several lakh each month. The expatriate population is around 7 million of which nearly 4 million are in the gulf countries and they are 90% laborer bros. In the US, there are hardly 300,000 Bangladeshis, and believe me we might earn in dollars lakhs of taka, but we have pittance left over at the end of every month. A few are super rich but thats the minority and probably aren't more than several thousand at best. It's worse in the UK where 40-50% are at the bottom of UK society. So what do we have: at a stretch, 2 lakh in BD and another 2-3 lakh overseas who can be reasonably considered to be well off.

In conclusion, we may have half a million Bangladeshis who are reasonably well off to shop at Jamuna Park. The rest will go there to enjoy the atmosphere and some tuk tak kinakata or tanki mara purposes.

You gotta come to NYC/Long Island and see how loaded the professional Bengali are. Tons of couple who are doctors and dentists. Yes I know they are the minorities. But I also know many cheapskate Taxi Drivers and other lower workers who wear the crappiest cloths but own million+ dollars home. Met a lot of them when my parents were buying a house. This cant be a coincidence.

I highly doubt that all the shops at JFP will be designer clothes/high end brands like D&G, Lacoste,Marc Jacobs,Tiffany or Coach. Most probably only a small section will be dedicated to those... rest of the mall will have stuff for middle class like electronics, home decoration and reasonably priced clothing & jewelry.

Also JFP will include movie theatres, gym,children's park, hotel, tv channel etc. So the other facilities will also draw a large crowd.

My main concern is the traffic, unless some good connecting roads are constructed and the existing ones widened, it's going to be a nightmare going there.. I believe a ring road is included in the master plan, but that alone is not sufficient for such a huge infrastructure.

Easily possible. First of all I never mentioned that every single person of the 7.5 million people have $1 million+, mostly likely 1-2 million people who have $1 million+ in asset and have dependents (wife, kids, parents) who add up to 7.5 million people.

Also GDP and Wealth is completely different things. The US has a GDP of 14 Trillion Dollars whereas Wealth in the US is a staggering 55 Trillion Dollars (http://www.federalreserve.gov/RELEASES/z1/Current/data.htm). BD's GDP is around 94 Billion Dollars in 2008 and BD's wealth could easily be a factor of 2-4 times higher than its GDP as this is the norm in every country. (more or less).

OK, I accept the difference between wealth and GDP. I may be mistaken but I thought I recalled reading someone had written that there were 7.5 million Bangladeshis with per capita of 45K USD, and that I know to be untrue.

BTW where do you get the stat that BD GDP is 94 billion? Estimates released this year for 2008 by IMF, World Bank, and CIA are 82, 79, and 83 billion respectively.

^^ The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics states around $87 Billion for 2008 and the forecast GDP for 2009 is around $94-96 Billion according to Ministry of Finance.

http://www.bbs.gov.bd/

OK, I accept the difference between wealth and GDP. I may be mistaken but I thought I recalled reading someone had written that there were 7.5 million Bangladeshis with per capita of 45K USD, and that I know to be untrue.


About earning 45k USD annually or about 2.5 lakh taka per month,perhaps Jamuna's owner meant to say "750,000" people instead of 7.5 million people.That I would say is quite possible and realistic to imagine,given we have a population of 140 million and a GDP of 85-90 Billion.

Thats more likely. Apparently many Bangladeshis tend to think lac means million :nuts:

Thats more likely. Apparently many Bangladeshis tend to think lac means million :nuts:

"Shadhinotar songram er moto"

^^
While I have no comparative statistics for Indonesia and the Philippines (two countries I've toured extensively) and how they measure up to Bangladesh, but there are glitzy malls, even in the the smallest of cities and towns. Most of these malls were always busy that turned into mad houses on the weekend.

Granted the JFP mall is going to be much larger however, I do not think it will be a failure.

Makes sense. Inequality in BD isnt that high compared to Pak or Ind. Also make note guys that lot of ppl these days have good salaries. The CFO of HSBC makes like 16 lakh per month.

It is mandatory for all commercial banks in Bangladesh to publish their audited financials and it is also mandatory under Bangladesh Bank's guidelines to mention the Chief Executive's compensation in the P&L, so one can easily find out. I am quite certain that say the top three executives in the leading multinational banks here (i.e. CEO, Head of Corporate Banking etc) make that much money. But the point to ponder on is how many fall within such a category?

I highly doubt that all the shops at JFP will be designer clothes/high end brands like D&G, Lacoste,Marc Jacobs,Tiffany or Coach. Most probably only a small section will be dedicated to those... rest of the mall will have stuff for middle class like electronics, home decoration and reasonably priced clothing & jewelry.

Also JFP will include movie theatres, gym,children's park, hotel, tv channel etc. So the other facilities will also draw a large crowd.

My main concern is the traffic, unless some good connecting roads are constructed and the existing ones widened, it's going to be a nightmare going there.. I believe a ring road is included in the master plan, but that alone is not sufficient for such a huge infrastructure.

I think our expectations are too far fetched. Before thinking of absolute luxury brands such as D&G, Gucci and Coach, we must accept the fact that we don't even have a market for mid-range brands such as Banana Republic, or even relatively lower-end brands such as GAP. Then again, I am not saying that we don't have a market for GAP, but what I'm saying is we don't have stuff like GAP, so we need to progressively go up this ladder, before expecting such higher end labels.

About earning 45k USD annually or about 2.5 lakh taka per month,perhaps Jamuna's owner meant to say "750,000" people instead of 7.5 million people.That I would say is quite possible and realistic to imagine,given we have a population of 140 million and a GDP of 85-90 Billion.

I feel mirza and tanzirian's estimations are more realistic. We probably have around a million individuals with incomes as high say USD 45,000 (par with the US GDP/capita).

Let's make it even simpler for you guys. If 7.5 million had such an income, we should assume that each of these households would have "at least" one private car. Also assuming nobody below this income bracket has a car, do you think we have 75 lakh cars in the whole of Bangladesh? Dhaka has a good 60-70% of all the cars in Bangladesh. Does Dhaka have that many cars?

I think our expectations are too far fetched. Before thinking of absolute luxury brands such as D&G, Gucci and Coach, we must accept the fact that we don't even have a market for mid-range brands such as Banana Republic, or even relatively lower-end brands such as GAP. Then again, I am not saying that we don't have a market for GAP, but what I'm saying is we don't have stuff like GAP, so we need to progressively go up this ladder, before expecting such higher end labels.

Actually the chances of luxury brands being available at JFP is higher than mid range ones like Banana Republic or Abercrombie. There are couple of reasons for it. Firstly, the mid/lower end brands themselves won't be interested in opening a store since their profitability comes from volume and they need to have extensive distribution channel. That is, opening one or two store won't help their business. Secondly, the middle class in Bangladesh is more price conscious but the ultra rich are just like that of any other country.

I expect to see only mid level asian brands like Raymonds etc, since they will consider Dhaka as an extension of the overall South Asian distribution and thus profit in that way. But for a US mid level brand like Banana Republic to open 1-2 stores is not sustainable.

This trend is already seen in Dhaka, there are exclusive stores of Omega, Longines, Cartier and Rolex(Iqbal center). Infact BMW, Mercedes and Volvo all have outlets aswell. The price of luxury car is almost three times than that in US due to high taxes but yet Dhaka had the highest sale of BMWs in South Asia! You would expect Mumbai or Delhi due to size..[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3092805.stm]

But as I said earlier, it's probably going to be a very small section at JFP dedicated to ultra luxury brands. Rest of it is going to be just like Bashundhara city, bunch of electronic stores, Indian saris,shalwar Kamiz or jewelry. You definitely don't need an income of $45,000 to shop for those items and 80% of the mall is going to cater to such crowds.

Actually the chances of luxury brands being available at JFP is higher than mid range ones like Banana Republic or Abercrombie. There are couple of reasons for it. Firstly, the mid/lower end brands themselves won't be interested in opening a store since their profitability comes from volume and they need to have extensive distribution channel. That is, opening one or two store won't help their business. Secondly, the middle class in Bangladesh is more price conscious but the ultra rich are just like that of any other country.

I expect to see only mid level asian brands like Raymonds etc, since they will consider Dhaka as an extension of the overall South Asian distribution and thus profit in that way. But for a US mid level brand like Banana Republic to open 1-2 stores is not sustainable.

This trend is already seen in Dhaka, there are exclusive stores of Omega, Longines, Cartier and Rolex(Iqbal center). Infact BMW, Mercedes and Volvo all have outlets aswell. The price of luxury car is almost three times than that in US due to high taxes but yet Dhaka had the highest sale of BMWs in South Asia! You would expect Mumbai or Delhi due to size..[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3092805.stm]

But as I said earlier, it's probably going to be a very small section at JFP dedicated to ultra luxury brands. Rest of it is going to be just like Bashundhara city, bunch of electronic stores, Indian saris,shalwar Kamiz or jewelry. You definitely don't need an income of $45,000 to shop for those items and 80% of the mall is going to cater to such crowds.

well what i do expect is companies like bmw, volvo, mercedes, toyota, bata, sony erricson, nokia, samsung, sony, grameenphone, aktel, warid, banglalink, and the desi designers like kk to open mega stores there besides jamunna like looking to bring in franchises of many american companies

among these are likes of nike, reebok, dominos pizza, mcdonalds, gap, aldo, starbucks and they plan to have their version of macy's and sears who will carry european and indian labels like armani d&g ritu kumar and so on..

again this is by no chance any confirmation this is the word on the street

Why would luxury cars have outlets in a mall?

Im guessing its going to be with stores like in Boshundhara City. What it will do is take the heat off Boshundhara. That place is always crowded these days and it would help split the crowd into 2 malls.

@samaruf: Yes at the HSBC in BD and CFO is Bangladeshi.

Well atleast one good thing about JFP , we all seem to be having a good time talking about what's going to happen next year, the excitement and hype :lol:

In the end it might just turn to be another Bashundhara city with bunch of pirated cd stores :nuts:

I feel mirza and tanzirian's estimations are more realistic. We probably have around a million individuals with incomes as high say USD 45,000 (par with the US GDP/capita).

Let's make it even simpler for you guys. If 7.5 million had such an income, we should assume that each of these households would have "at least" one private car. Also assuming nobody below this income bracket has a car, do you think we have 75 lakh cars in the whole of Bangladesh? Dhaka has a good 60-70% of all the cars in Bangladesh. Does Dhaka have that many cars?

Thats actually a good way to find out the truth

According to what I read in the newspapers,there are over 3 Lakh private cars in Dhaka.Taking into account that the number of private cars in Dhaka is about half of the total number of private cars in Bangladesh,then there should be about 6-7 lakh private cars in the country.Which again suggests that the Jamuna Group owner must have suggested that there are "750,000" people earning 2.5 lakh taka per month in Bangladesh.
Hope this helps to end the confusion:cheers:

I really dislike our numeric system with only 100 thousands in a lakh and only 100 lakhs in a crore but everything else in groups of 1000. It's confusing and unscientific. I am in favor of abandoning this particular part of heritage in favor of metric system. I don't think too many Brits are still referring to guineas or shillings.

^^ The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics states around $87 Billion for 2008 and the forecast GDP for 2009 is around $94-96 Billion according to Ministry of Finance.

http://www.bbs.gov.bd/

If that were true, then our economy supposedly grew or will grow 8 - 10 % between 2008 and 2009, during a global recession. We haven't even achieved that in a good year thus far (we average around 6%). Not to mention, that the 2008 figure is 5% higher than the highest of the three estimates I quoted. Maybe I am being too cynical...but in this case I choose to believe the foreign figures.

Of course I would love to see 8% growth and hope that this goal can become true now that the worldwide recession is slowly ending. 8% sustained over several decades is generally accepted as what is needed to become a developed or near-developed nation.

In the end it might just turn to be another Bashundhara city with bunch of pirated cd stores :nuts:


who cares, after all it's shopping woohoo :banana::lol:
http://flagcounter.com/count/Nsu/bg=F5F5FF/txt=F5F5FF/border=F5F5FF/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=1/ (http://flagcounter.com/more/Nsu)

Why would luxury cars have outlets in a mall?

Im guessing its going to be with stores like in Boshundhara City. What it will do is take the heat off Boshundhara. That place is always crowded these days and it would help split the crowd into 2 malls.

@samaruf: Yes at the HSBC in BD and CFO is Bangladeshi.
they be more like exhibition stalls

In the end it might just turn to be another Bashundhara city with bunch of pirated cd stores :nuts:

The cd stores are actually the greatest attraction for me to go to a mall.

The cd stores are actually the greatest attraction for me to go to a mall.

Ditto. BD is movie heaven.

who cares, after all it's shopping woohoo :banana::lol:
http://flagcounter.com/count/Nsu/bg=F5F5FF/txt=F5F5FF/border=F5F5FF/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=1/ (http://flagcounter.com/more/Nsu)

That's the spirit!:applause:

The cd stores are actually the greatest attraction for me to go to a mall.

With the availability of torrent downloads, are people still buying bootleg dvds?

With the availability of torrent downloads, are people still buying bootleg dvds?

Yes. Downloading is slow in BD. The DVDs arent bootleg anymore. I usually dont buy anything unless its master print.

Yes. Downloading is slow in BD. The DVDs arent bootleg anymore. I usually dont buy anything unless its master print.

So is it cheaper than buying it in the US? I mean a new release is $20+ here. How much is a master print non pirated dvd in the Dhaka malls?

^^Lol they are master print but still pirated. Cost Tk. 70-100 max. This how the cycle goes. Once a movie comes out you'll get decent watchable pirtaed copy in 3 weeks or so. In prolly 7-8 weeks u'll get the master print. Thats how ppl watch movies here. In the states a movie gets released and plays in the theater a while. The DVD comes out once it has stopped playing in the theaters. The only theater Star Cinplex in Boshundhara doesnt show any latest releases.

When the Australian cricket team came to BD they had Rifles Square 4th floor enclosed and bought a few hundred DVDs.

^^Lol they are master print but still pirated. Cost Tk. 70-100 max. This how the cycle goes. Once a movie comes out you'll get decent watchable pirtaed copy in 3 weeks or so. In prolly 7-8 weeks u'll get the master print. Thats how ppl watch movies here. In the states a movie gets released and plays in the theater a while. The DVD comes out once it has stopped playing in the theaters. The only theater Star Cinplex in Boshundhara doesnt show any latest releases.

When the Australian cricket team came to BD they had Rifles Square 4th floor enclosed and bought a few hundred DVDs.

Hmm, that's what I was thinking. Who the heck is going to pay over 1000 taka for a dvd movie in Bangladesh? It had to be pirated.

When I bought several copies back in 2005, they were so bad(taken with camcorder in a theater), but I still paid 100 taka/dvd. Another thing I noticed was most of the copies were made in Malaysia, but lately there has been an anti-piracy drive in KL and other Malaysian cities. Where are the BD dvds coming from?

JFP is going to create the largest pirated DVD center in the world :lol:

^^Great for movie buffs like me. Although I think theres a mall larger than JFP in China so maybe that could be the largest. Well 2005ish not all DVDs were Malaysian some were. Rest were local I believe. Now I dont see many Malaysian copies and I heard there was an anti-piracy drive in Malaysia but Im pretty sure they still have them. Atleast they have pirated vdo games I know. Pirated vdo games are the reason kids are so much into gaming in BD too :D

^^Great for movie buffs like me. Although I think theres a mall larger than JFP in China so maybe that could be the largest. Well 2005ish not all DVDs were Malaysian some were. Rest were local I believe. Now I dont see many Malaysian copies and I heard there was an anti-piracy drive in Malaysia but Im pretty sure they still have them. Atleast they have pirated vdo games I know. Pirated vdo games are the reason kids are so much into gaming in BD too :D
there is just go to aboney in rifles square thats where i used to buy all my dvds from and i used to get the fat boxes, by malaysian u mean the holographic covers right? dts

veryone just wants to make more profit r ki dont go to dragon in banani and ryans in idb they also have malaysian but they will charge u like 120 tk per dvd u can also try movie plus in rifles

I like Dragon because all Dragon DVDs are guaranteed to run unlike many of the others which often give discs that make your DVD player huff and puff.

I like Dragon because all Dragon DVDs are guaranteed to run unlike many of the others which often give discs that make your DVD player huff and puff.
they are the biggest chors i have met thus far, when i asked why they charge way more then aboney they went ora jealous tai ato kom dam e dai bebsha noshto korte chai! i was like wtf!

dude for the past 5 years i always got my dvds from aboney the malaysian dts ones for 85 taka then 90 taka if they dont work i get change and if i dont like the movie i get a change

dragon will charge 120 taka for the same dvd with the cheap thin boxes which cost 1 taka max i always get the fat boxes from aboney!

DVD prices are now down to 70 taka. Some are 80 or 90.

the local ones arent more then 45 taka, get them from stadium that avoids the middle men

they are the biggest chors i have met thus far, when i asked why they charge way more then aboney they went ora jealous tai ato kom dam e dai bebsha noshto korte chai! i was like wtf!

dude for the past 5 years i always got my dvds from aboney the malaysian dts ones for 85 taka then 90 taka if they dont work i get change and if i dont like the movie i get a change

dragon will charge 120 taka for the same dvd with the cheap thin boxes which cost 1 taka max i always get the fat boxes from aboney!

Dragon in Banani DCC market? Their DVDs are good though. They charge me BDT 100 everytime and not BDT 120.

Where's this Aboney dope? Do you get the same golden disc DVDs from Malaysia as in Dragon there?

Actually the chances of luxury brands being available at JFP is higher than mid range ones like Banana Republic or Abercrombie. There are couple of reasons for it. Firstly, the mid/lower end brands themselves won't be interested in opening a store since their profitability comes from volume and they need to have extensive distribution channel. That is, opening one or two store won't help their business. Secondly, the middle class in Bangladesh is more price conscious but the ultra rich are just like that of any other country.

I expect to see only mid level asian brands like Raymonds etc, since they will consider Dhaka as an extension of the overall South Asian distribution and thus profit in that way. But for a US mid level brand like Banana Republic to open 1-2 stores is not sustainable.

This trend is already seen in Dhaka, there are exclusive stores of Omega, Longines, Cartier and Rolex(Iqbal center). Infact BMW, Mercedes and Volvo all have outlets aswell. The price of luxury car is almost three times than that in US due to high taxes but yet Dhaka had the highest sale of BMWs in South Asia! You would expect Mumbai or Delhi due to size..[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3092805.stm]

But as I said earlier, it's probably going to be a very small section at JFP dedicated to ultra luxury brands. Rest of it is going to be just like Bashundhara city, bunch of electronic stores, Indian saris,shalwar Kamiz or jewelry. You definitely don't need an income of $45,000 to shop for those items and 80% of the mall is going to cater to such crowds.

That's an interesting observation and I won't try debating with you, as we hardly have any evidence as to which apparel retailers/departmental stores are coming to JFP. The departmental store concept in some cases hasn't done too well in Dhaka to date (e.g. Etcetera by Ascent Group, who practically shut down two of their three stores and God knows who buys what from their Fashion Exclusives outlet).

But we must take heart from Bashundhara City's new look seventh floor. Many renowned local brands have opened their flagship outlets there and these stores are in an area of around 10,000 sq. ft. We first had Bata and now we have Apex, Ecstasy, Westecs etc. I was really really impressed. And we even have this other store called Deshi Dosh, which is like a departmental store with sections dedicated to ten different local brands (you have the likes of Probortona, Nogordola and can't recall the rest). The interior of the store was very nice and very different and I was honestly quite impressed. Moreover, Transcom's new outlet in Gulshan Avenue (between KFC and Pizza Hut) is quite nice too. This definitely is an indication of our rapidly growing middle class population.

But I am still unsure as to what kind of a target Jamuna Group has with respect to bringing in international brands. Once again, Etcetera Fashion Exclusives has been selling Kenneth Cole Reaction shirts for BDT 5,500, which is roughly USD 80. Pricing-wise I guess it's fine, but I don't see too many shirts being sold. So I am still unclear as to what percentage of the the crowd at JFP will be willing to pay a premium for a good brand. Will be interesting.

its in rifles square and aboney is much better then dragon these bastard cheaters charge u 100 taka for a dts golden disk with a thin box right? aboney is a bigger importer of dvd then dragon can ever be

i used to buy all my dvds from them and all my 700+ dvds are malaysian dts and i used to get em for 85 n den uit went up to 90 till the last time i bought then in dec 08 an they told me it costs tk 35-45 to buy and get it shipped to dhk they then sell it to da dukandars at tk 70

I didn't know where to put this but seeing as how we were talking about wealthy citizens of Bangladesh, according to this infographic, BD loses approximately $274 million dollars in taxes because some very wealthy and greedy elites decide to put their savings in offshore tax havens.

http://www.fsteurope.com/news/tax-havens/

the local ones arent more then 45 taka, get them from stadium that avoids the middle men

Where exactly in the stadium? Are they master print? The thing is in a store you can return them if they get stuck and they will change them for you. Or you can preview yet on their TV before buying it.

Come to think of it, I was walking by the stadium market once and this guy comes up to me and says "Bhai CD/DVD lagbe? Deshi Bideshi?" I thought he wanted to sell me porno. :lol:

Where exactly in the stadium? Are they master print? The thing is in a store you can return them if they get stuck and they will change them for you. Or you can preview yet on their TV before buying it.

Come to think of it, I was walking by the stadium market once and this guy comes up to me and says "Bhai CD/DVD lagbe? Deshi Bideshi?" I thought he wanted to sell me porno. :lol:

Haha they were most definitely trying to sell you what you think they were trying to sell you.

Where exactly in the stadium? Are they master print? The thing is in a store you can return them if they get stuck and they will change them for you. Or you can preview yet on their TV before buying it.

Come to think of it, I was walking by the stadium market once and this guy comes up to me and says "Bhai CD/DVD lagbe? Deshi Bideshi?" I thought he wanted to sell me porno. :lol:

Haha they were most definitely trying to sell you what you think they were trying to sell you.

I didn't know where to put this but seeing as how we were talking about wealthy citizens of Bangladesh, according to this infographic, BD loses approximately $274 million dollars in taxes because some very wealthy and greedy elites decide to put their savings in offshore tax havens.

http://www.fsteurope.com/news/tax-havens/

The actual figure is in all probability far higher.

its in rifles square and aboney is much better then dragon these bastard cheaters charge u 100 taka for a dts golden disk with a thin box right? aboney is a bigger importer of dvd then dragon can ever be

i used to buy all my dvds from them and all my 700+ dvds are malaysian dts and i used to get em for 85 n den uit went up to 90 till the last time i bought then in dec 08 an they told me it costs tk 35-45 to buy and get it shipped to dhk they then sell it to da dukandars at tk 70

Directions to this aboney place of yours please. Where exactly in Rifles Square?

Where exactly in the stadium? Are they master print? The thing is in a store you can return them if they get stuck and they will change them for you. Or you can preview yet on their TV before buying it.

Come to think of it, I was walking by the stadium market once and this guy comes up to me and says "Bhai CD/DVD lagbe? Deshi Bideshi?" I thought he wanted to sell me porno. :lol:
sadaf electronics, i forgot their exact location but for u i guess it wouldnt be worth it, i used to go there as it was right beside motijeel where i had to go often, u dont get master print unless the official master print is released in dvd. what most people dont know is that before a master print comes out there are several pre screener copies the ones that have the writing "for ... use only. property of some studio" and if u want true master print, i'll let u in on a tip always check if the subtitles match the audio and check if there are special features

Directions to this aboney place of yours please. Where exactly in Rifles Square?
above agora in the new extension where there is a grameenphone center just beside that when u climb the stairs the circular one u'll find it right there

i'll let u in on a tip always check if the subtitles match the audio and check if there are special features

Not really. I've seen master print without special features and subtitles.

Ditto. BD is movie heaven.

agreed, thats the reason i go 2 BD hehe, I bought about 30 DVDs last time but honestly, the cinemas at JFP MUST show latest releases.

agreed, thats the reason i go 2 BD hehe, I bought about 30 DVDs last time but honestly, the cinemas at JFP MUST show latest releases.

They show latest Bangla movies :nuts:

^^
lol tbh, the STAR cineplex sucks big time man, I hope JFP gets better cinemas.

Not really. I've seen master print without special features and subtitles.
there is no proper master print without these those are pre screener copies, u can tell the difference once u watch it on a big screen tv, the pixelations will tell u

there is no proper master print without these those are pre screener copies, u can tell the difference once u watch it on a big screen tv, the pixelations will tell u

I see. Well what I would want is a clear print and I am good. Is stadium market a good bet for that?

I see. Well what I would want is a clear print and I am good. Is stadium market a good bet for that?
yes it is, remember once the good print comes out everyone will have it, its not like one exclusive store will have it, they usually download it off the internet and then burn it en mass the malaysian dts discs are the best and what they call now "pk" maal is actually local because bangladesh is now a very very big player in the pirated dvd market globally

by preference would be aboney in rifles sqaure if u buy a lot together u can get the dts ones for 90-95 bucks always bargain and check another way to check if its true master print is that the subtitles will match perfectly without spelling mistakes.

what they call now "pk" maal is actually local because bangladesh is now a very very big player in the pirated dvd market globally
.

pk means Pakistani? I think these days Pak and BD firms work together since the market for bollywood movies is very big in these countries.

pk means Pakistani? I think these days Pak and BD firms work together since the market for bollywood movies is very big in these countries.
thats what they want u to think! its all locally made!

What is the financing structure for this project? Factoring in lower construction cost my guess is the cost is around USD200million. The capital structure of the group probably has arab oil money behind it.

As for profitability, the hypermarket will probably be their most profitable venture conditional to parking fees and traffic. The overall project will take several decades to break even. The average wealthy Bangali is not conditioned to spend their last dime on frivolous items like westerners.



In most countries, there will be proper market research done by a consulting company before a 500 million dollar investment is made. In BD, it seems decisions are made based on hunch and guess..

But at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. It's a private investment, if the mall is not a success Jamuna Group will be the only one to take the loss. Much better than many of the government initiatives where the general public has to suck up the loss. Another point to note is, if there is no market for luxury goods in Dhaka then even if JFP wants Chanel, D&G and Hugo Boss will not open retail outlet. So we don't need to worry about that..

Also, the project will create lot of jobs in the area in the form of shops, maintenance, security etc. Infact there are other projects within this as well including private news channel, a hospital and a 5 star hotel.

Anyone have new pics of JFP from inside?

hey...trying to correct here....ambience mall is not the biggest in asia...i've been there and not really impressive though....pretty dead mall just looks big but not really big....checkout from trusted sites and you'll get the answer....peace....

ambience mall is not the biggest

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hey...trying to correct here....ambience mall is not the biggest in asia...i've been there and not really impressive though....pretty dead mall just looks big but not really big....checkout from trusted sites and you'll get the answer....peace....

^^
what on earth r u talkin about?? please elaborate!

^^ yeah u might be right.....but Mumbai i say yes its all concrete if not all but yeah 70% of it yes....but then if u see New Delhi''s financial centre Gurgaon which is known as small New York or the City of the Millenium.....highrises are mostly made up of glass and steel alone.....n yeah they have got beautiful beautiful design astheticaly amazing....gurgaon skyline has set a example not just for india but many countries in the world...

wat i mean to say is...designs for all d buildings in BD is plain...more glamour shud be added to them...i believe Dhaka shud be the showcase city of bangladesh mate.......got great potential....

neways wats happenin now is lovely..

i've been in Gurgaon for 10 months now and i dont think its a great place man......even though some building looks good, but area is not safe, polluted with rubbish thrown everywhere and little huts beside buildings...tht's not new york at all.....

herez an article about jamuna future park on the international media

Bangladesh developer gambles on huge shopping mall

It's the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall. -AFP

Sun, Sep 13, 2009
AFP

By: Julie Clothier

DHAKA - On the edge of the Bangladeshi capital's diplomatic zone and surrounding upmarket suburbs, the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall is difficult to miss.

Sitting on a vast 134,000 square-metre (33-acre) plot of land, the mall will be the biggest in South Asia, according to its developers, who plan to open it next year.

The wealthy entrepreneur constructing the 500 million-dollar mall hopes it will transform impoverished Bangladesh into a retail hub for the region.

"We have 150 million people here and five percent of people have a higher per capita income than the USA. That's 7.5 million people. That's who this mall is for," said Nurul Islam, chairman of Jamuna Group, the company building it.

Islam is hoping to attract some of the world's biggest retailing names to help fill the 409,000 square metres (44 million square feet) of space inside the building which has three levels below ground and six above.

"We hope a lot of international tourists will also come here," he said, adding that he was undeterred by the global economic downturn.

Jamuna is one of Bangladesh's biggest companies, with most of its interests in clothing, engineering and media, including a leading Bengali daily newspaper. It plans to open the country's first 24-hour news channel later this year.

The mall has room for 2,000 shops, seven movie theatres, 5,000 car parking spaces, two swimming pools, a 3,000-seat food court, a 2,000-person gymnasium, as well as amusement parks.

On average, it will be filled with 65,000 people each day, Islam hopes, with one third of those employees of the mall and shops.

But Latiful Hossain, chief executive of the Basundhara City shopping mall on the other side of town, has doubts about whether Dhaka can cope with another mega retail centre.

He said around 20 percent of shops in his mall, which opened in 2004 and is around one-sixth the size of the Jamuna Future Park, had been empty since it was built.

"My experience is that although there are rich people in Dhaka, there are not enough for such a huge super mall," he said. "We should have waited for at least five years before opening our own mall."

Although the mall will have its own 45-megawatt power plant on site, because electricity in Bangladesh is scarce and power outages frequent, a leading business expert also said he was sceptical about whether Dhaka's already-struggling infrastructure will cope with the mega mall.

"In order to be a success, it would need to attract a huge number of people every day but the roads around the park are already clogged," said Syed Farhet Anwar, a professor of business administration at Dhaka University.

"It may even cause natural deaths of smaller malls. I doubt whether the mega-mall would bring much good to our economy," he said.

But investment banker Ifty Islam, who heads the Dhaka-based A.T. Capital investment fund, was more optimistic despite the fact that 40 percent of people in Bangladesh live below the poverty line.

Bangladesh, which has experienced more than six percent economic growth a year in the past five years, has not been badly hit by the global credit crunch so far because its banks are not exposed to worldwide markets.

Although exports are beginning to show signs of a slowdown, growth is forecast for a healthy 5.5 percent in the next financial year.

"It will give Bangladesh's fast-growing middle class -- who travel to places like Thailand at the moment for shopping -- a different retail experience," said Islam. "It shows how fast the Bangladeshi economy is growing."

His sentiment is echoed by the Jamuna chairman's daughter Rozalin, 24, a company director, who says she is confident top designer labels will want to set up shop in Bangladesh.

"It's going to be the most happening place in Bangladesh."

--AFP

herez an article about jamuna future park on the international media

Bangladesh developer gambles on huge shopping mall

It's the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall. -AFP

Sun, Sep 13, 2009
AFP

By: Julie Clothier

DHAKA - On the edge of the Bangladeshi capital's diplomatic zone and surrounding upmarket suburbs, the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall is difficult to miss.

Sitting on a vast 134,000 square-metre (33-acre) plot of land, the mall will be the biggest in South Asia, according to its developers, who plan to open it next year.

The wealthy entrepreneur constructing the 500 million-dollar mall hopes it will transform impoverished Bangladesh into a retail hub for the region.

"We have 150 million people here and five percent of people have a higher per capita income than the USA. That's 7.5 million people. That's who this mall is for," said Nurul Islam, chairman of Jamuna Group, the company building it.

Islam is hoping to attract some of the world's biggest retailing names to help fill the 409,000 square metres (44 million square feet) of space inside the building which has three levels below ground and six above.

"We hope a lot of international tourists will also come here," he said, adding that he was undeterred by the global economic downturn.

Jamuna is one of Bangladesh's biggest companies, with most of its interests in clothing, engineering and media, including a leading Bengali daily newspaper. It plans to open the country's first 24-hour news channel later this year.

The mall has room for 2,000 shops, seven movie theatres, 5,000 car parking spaces, two swimming pools, a 3,000-seat food court, a 2,000-person gymnasium, as well as amusement parks.

On average, it will be filled with 65,000 people each day, Islam hopes, with one third of those employees of the mall and shops.

But Latiful Hossain, chief executive of the Basundhara City shopping mall on the other side of town, has doubts about whether Dhaka can cope with another mega retail centre.

He said around 20 percent of shops in his mall, which opened in 2004 and is around one-sixth the size of the Jamuna Future Park, had been empty since it was built.

"My experience is that although there are rich people in Dhaka, there are not enough for such a huge super mall," he said. "We should have waited for at least five years before opening our own mall."

Although the mall will have its own 45-megawatt power plant on site, because electricity in Bangladesh is scarce and power outages frequent, a leading business expert also said he was sceptical about whether Dhaka's already-struggling infrastructure will cope with the mega mall.

"In order to be a success, it would need to attract a huge number of people every day but the roads around the park are already clogged," said Syed Farhet Anwar, a professor of business administration at Dhaka University.

"It may even cause natural deaths of smaller malls. I doubt whether the mega-mall would bring much good to our economy," he said.

But investment banker Ifty Islam, who heads the Dhaka-based A.T. Capital investment fund, was more optimistic despite the fact that 40 percent of people in Bangladesh live below the poverty line.

Bangladesh, which has experienced more than six percent economic growth a year in the past five years, has not been badly hit by the global credit crunch so far because its banks are not exposed to worldwide markets.

Although exports are beginning to show signs of a slowdown, growth is forecast for a healthy 5.5 percent in the next financial year.

"It will give Bangladesh's fast-growing middle class -- who travel to places like Thailand at the moment for shopping -- a different retail experience," said Islam. "It shows how fast the Bangladeshi economy is growing."

His sentiment is echoed by the Jamuna chairman's daughter Rozalin, 24, a company director, who says she is confident top designer labels will want to set up shop in Bangladesh.

"It's going to be the most happening place in Bangladesh."

--AFP

herez an article about jamuna future park on the international media

Bangladesh developer gambles on huge shopping mall

It's the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall. -AFP

Sun, Sep 13, 2009
AFP

By: Julie Clothier

DHAKA - On the edge of the Bangladeshi capital's diplomatic zone and surrounding upmarket suburbs, the grey giant box-shaped Jamuna Future Park shopping mall is difficult to miss.

Sitting on a vast 134,000 square-metre (33-acre) plot of land, the mall will be the biggest in South Asia, according to its developers, who plan to open it next year.

The wealthy entrepreneur constructing the 500 million-dollar mall hopes it will transform impoverished Bangladesh into a retail hub for the region.

"We have 150 million people here and five percent of people have a higher per capita income than the USA. That's 7.5 million people. That's who this mall is for," said Nurul Islam, chairman of Jamuna Group, the company building it.

Islam is hoping to attract some of the world's biggest retailing names to help fill the 409,000 square metres (44 million square feet) of space inside the building which has three levels below ground and six above.

"We hope a lot of international tourists will also come here," he said, adding that he was undeterred by the global economic downturn.

Jamuna is one of Bangladesh's biggest companies, with most of its interests in clothing, engineering and media, including a leading Bengali daily newspaper. It plans to open the country's first 24-hour news channel later this year.

The mall has room for 2,000 shops, seven movie theatres, 5,000 car parking spaces, two swimming pools, a 3,000-seat food court, a 2,000-person gymnasium, as well as amusement parks.

On average, it will be filled with 65,000 people each day, Islam hopes, with one third of those employees of the mall and shops.

But Latiful Hossain, chief executive of the Basundhara City shopping mall on the other side of town, has doubts about whether Dhaka can cope with another mega retail centre.

He said around 20 percent of shops in his mall, which opened in 2004 and is around one-sixth the size of the Jamuna Future Park, had been empty since it was built.

"My experience is that although there are rich people in Dhaka, there are not enough for such a huge super mall," he said. "We should have waited for at least five years before opening our own mall."

Although the mall will have its own 45-megawatt power plant on site, because electricity in Bangladesh is scarce and power outages frequent, a leading business expert also said he was sceptical about whether Dhaka's already-struggling infrastructure will cope with the mega mall.

"In order to be a success, it would need to attract a huge number of people every day but the roads around the park are already clogged," said Syed Farhet Anwar, a professor of business administration at Dhaka University.

"It may even cause natural deaths of smaller malls. I doubt whether the mega-mall would bring much good to our economy," he said.

But investment banker Ifty Islam, who heads the Dhaka-based A.T. Capital investment fund, was more optimistic despite the fact that 40 percent of people in Bangladesh live below the poverty line.

Bangladesh, which has experienced more than six percent economic growth a year in the past five years, has not been badly hit by the global credit crunch so far because its banks are not exposed to worldwide markets.

Although exports are beginning to show signs of a slowdown, growth is forecast for a healthy 5.5 percent in the next financial year.

"It will give Bangladesh's fast-growing middle class -- who travel to places like Thailand at the moment for shopping -- a different retail experience," said Islam. "It shows how fast the Bangladeshi economy is growing."

His sentiment is echoed by the Jamuna chairman's daughter Rozalin, 24, a company director, who says she is confident top designer labels will want to set up shop in Bangladesh.

"It's going to be the most happening place in Bangladesh."

--AFP

Think someone had posted this same article earlier. Anyways, does anyone have any concrete updates about the status? Any details on the stores we'll be having? I'm thoroughly impressed by the 7th floor of Bashundhara City. We can just get better from here. :D

^^
this article is old indeed.

someone can give us updates please?

I think our expectations are too far fetched. Before thinking of absolute luxury brands such as D&G, Gucci and Coach, we must accept the fact that we don't even have a market for mid-range brands such as Banana Republic, or even relatively lower-end brands such as GAP. Then again, I am not saying that we don't have a market for GAP, but what I'm saying is we don't have stuff like GAP, so we need to progressively go up this ladder, before expecting such higher end labels.

After reading the following news, I am more hopeful about ultra luxury brands opening stores at JFP. Louis Vuitton opened its first store in Mongolia, an Asian country of 2.7 million people and an average per capita annual income of just 1,800 dollars!

Bangladesh have 160 million people with a percapita GDP of 1500 (PPP). Dhaka alone has 12 million people with many rich business people related to textile, garments, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, telecommunication and other industries

Luxury brands hunt for untapped markets
Agence France-Presse . Paris

With spending on luxury goods down across the developed world in the economic crisis, luxury brands are increasingly looking far beyond the chic avenues of New York, London or Paris for revenue.
The new names on the lips of luxury professionals are far less familiar—Almaty, Shenzhen, Ulan Bator—respectively, the commercial capital of Kazakhstan, a major Chinese provincial centre and the capital of Mongolia.
‘The desire for luxury is more and more universal so the luxury sector has to reach its clients around the world,’ Yves Carcelle, chairman of Louis Vuitton, told AFP at the Paris launch of a new luxury website for China.
Louis Vuitton earlier this month opened its first store in Mongolia, an Asian country of 2.7 million people and an average per capita annual income of just 1,800 dollars (1,216 euros).
‘It’s a country that is taking off economically,’ said Carcelle, adding: ‘In just a few days, we already know the store is doing well and we should make as much in Ulan Bator as in a good-sized provincial town in China.’
Antoine Belge, luxury expert at British bank HSBC, explained the strategy.
‘In Mongolia or in Kazakhstan, the big luxury brands are targeting pockets of wealth." he said.
‘When you open a store in a new city in China, the clientele in that city multiplies by a factor of 10. There’s the client who is used to buying the brand abroad and nine others who are new.’
A study out this week by US-based consultancy Bain and Company showed luxury sales this year will drop by 16 per cent in North America, by 10 per cent in Japan and by eight per cent in Europe compared to last year.
In Asia, however, sales are set to grow by 10 per cent.
‘First we get local elites familiar with our brand, then we open a place where we offer the same quality of service, the same products and therefore the same prices’ as in other brand shops, said LVMH, the world’s top luxury firm.
Out of 300 openings of luxury stores in 2009, Bain said, 15 per cent will be in China, 25 per cent in other Asian countries, 30 per cent in the Middle East, and 15 per cent in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Just 15 per cent would be in Western markets, the study found.
‘Emerging markets with dynamic profiles and appropriate economic potential will offer good growth opportunities,’ the Gucci luxury group said in a statement.
The Gucci group now has more stores in the Asia-Pacific region except Japan (145) than in North America (102), including 38 stores in continental China without counting Hong Kong and Macau.
‘Thirty years ago the consumer was less informed. Now he is instantly informed, which forces us to take a global approach to new markets,’ said Sidney Toledano, chief executive of Christian Dior couture.

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/02/busi.html

I just read that Article and was thinking the same thing--I mean 2.5 million people with an avg income of 1800USD is nothing!

[I]After reading the following news, I am more hopeful about ultra luxury brands opening stores at JFP. Louis Vuitton opened its first store in Mongolia, an Asian country of 2.7 million people and an average per capita annual income of just 1,800 dollars!


I think we will probably be taxing them more highly than Mongolia though!

After reading the following news, I am more hopeful about ultra luxury brands opening stores at JFP. Louis Vuitton opened its first store in Mongolia, an Asian country of 2.7 million people and an average per capita annual income of just 1,800 dollars!

Bangladesh have 160 million people with a percapita GDP of 1500 (PPP). Dhaka alone has 12 million people with many rich business people related to textile, garments, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, telecommunication and other industries

Luxury brands hunt for untapped markets
Agence France-Presse . Paris

With spending on luxury goods down across the developed world in the economic crisis, luxury brands are increasingly looking far beyond the chic avenues of New York, London or Paris for revenue.
The new names on the lips of luxury professionals are far less familiar—Almaty, Shenzhen, Ulan Bator—respectively, the commercial capital of Kazakhstan, a major Chinese provincial centre and the capital of Mongolia.
‘The desire for luxury is more and more universal so the luxury sector has to reach its clients around the world,’ Yves Carcelle, chairman of Louis Vuitton, told AFP at the Paris launch of a new luxury website for China.
Louis Vuitton earlier this month opened its first store in Mongolia, an Asian country of 2.7 million people and an average per capita annual income of just 1,800 dollars (1,216 euros).
‘It’s a country that is taking off economically,’ said Carcelle, adding: ‘In just a few days, we already know the store is doing well and we should make as much in Ulan Bator as in a good-sized provincial town in China.’
Antoine Belge, luxury expert at British bank HSBC, explained the strategy.
‘In Mongolia or in Kazakhstan, the big luxury brands are targeting pockets of wealth." he said.
‘When you open a store in a new city in China, the clientele in that city multiplies by a factor of 10. There’s the client who is used to buying the brand abroad and nine others who are new.’
A study out this week by US-based consultancy Bain and Company showed luxury sales this year will drop by 16 per cent in North America, by 10 per cent in Japan and by eight per cent in Europe compared to last year.
In Asia, however, sales are set to grow by 10 per cent.
‘First we get local elites familiar with our brand, then we open a place where we offer the same quality of service, the same products and therefore the same prices’ as in other brand shops, said LVMH, the world’s top luxury firm.
Out of 300 openings of luxury stores in 2009, Bain said, 15 per cent will be in China, 25 per cent in other Asian countries, 30 per cent in the Middle East, and 15 per cent in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Just 15 per cent would be in Western markets, the study found.
‘Emerging markets with dynamic profiles and appropriate economic potential will offer good growth opportunities,’ the Gucci luxury group said in a statement.
The Gucci group now has more stores in the Asia-Pacific region except Japan (145) than in North America (102), including 38 stores in continental China without counting Hong Kong and Macau.
‘Thirty years ago the consumer was less informed. Now he is instantly informed, which forces us to take a global approach to new markets,’ said Sidney Toledano, chief executive of Christian Dior couture.

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/02/busi.html

Wow this is great news. But my question is what kind of market presently exists in Mongolia for mid-scale brands as opposed to luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton.

Hey everyone,
Anyone know how this project is being financed. since the company is private there aren't a whole lot of info available on the net.

Hey everyone,
Anyone know how this project is being financed. since the company is private there aren't a whole lot of info available on the net.

Jamuna group is a huge company! they have many stuff, starting frm petroleum business to consumer products and all..... so i guess they used their profit money to build the mall?

Jamuna group is a huge company! they have many stuff, starting frm petroleum business to consumer products and all..... so i guess they used their profit money to build the mall?

If you'll allow me to add, Jamuna Group will more than recover the costs of building the mall simply by selling these shops. There was a chart in the website with detailed information on floor-wise pricing of shop space.

^^
thats right :)

If you'll allow me to add, Jamuna Group will more than recover the costs of building the mall simply by selling these shops. There was a chart in the website with detailed information on floor-wise pricing of shop space.

Provided the entity can survive and/or outlive the current regime.

Any update on JFP? Are they still planning to open up the mall by 2010?

^^
I do hope it opens at least end of this year or begining of next year

Any update on JFP? Are they still planning to open up the mall by 2010?

Any updates on what international brands are coming in? Restaurants? What about the hotel?

^^
so far i knw Prada is there lol, i hope IKEA comes though :P

^^
so far i knw Prada is there lol, i hope IKEA comes though :P

Source? Such high end brands? Why not more affordable mid scale stuff?

^^
so far i knw Prada is there lol, i hope IKEA comes though :P
From what I know IKEA would not establish its stores inside any mall, owing to its relatively large footprint and being brand conscious. All IKEA stores in North America are standalone structures.

^^

I actually give out of town relatives/friends tour of our big IKEA store next to the Mall of America :lol: They are visibly charmed by the simplicity and practicality of the stuff IKEA sells and how dinky rooms can be nicely decorated with minimal effort.

As Towhid bhai mentions, IKEA isn't considered luxury or high end brand and most customers are parents of college kids or people with small rooms trying to maximize the space.

^^

I actually give out of town relatives/friends tour of our big IKEA store next to the Mall of America :lol: They are visibly charmed by the simplicity and practicality of the stuff IKEA sells and how dinky rooms can be nicely decorated with minimal effort.

As Towhid bhai mentions, IKEA isn't considered luxury or high end brand and most customers are parents of college kids or people with small rooms trying to maximize the space.

They drive me nuts with their "one-way" traffic design of the store. You can never rush in grab a thing and checkout without having to go through the whole store (again)!

^^
source: saw in TV reports, at the time when the news of demolishing the mall was going on

Source? Such high end brands? Why not more affordable mid scale stuff?
IKEA isn't considered "high end brand". Their products are very functional, ergonomic and cheap.

yeah prada and louis vuitton replica stores right? straight out of china town

^^ maybe :lol:

they should start united colors of benetton i miss that store

since a lot of benetton n sisly, esprit, sean john, route 66, banana republic, tommy, abercombie etc stuff are now made in bd

they should start united colors of benetton i miss that store
Benetton is no more in Bangladesh?

since a lot of benetton n sisly, esprit, sean john, route 66, banana republic, tommy, abercombie etc stuff are now made in bd
There needs to be legitimate stores owned by the brand, or a franchise in order to sell inside Bangladesh.

Benetton is no more in Bangladesh?

There needs to be legitimate stores owned by the brand, or a franchise in order to sell inside Bangladesh.
well no, the one here gave up their rights and they havent updated since 06 so yeah

even in india most of the benetton stores sell stuff made in india

IKEA isn't considered "high end brand". Their products are very functional, ergonomic and cheap.

I was referring to Prada and not IKEA.

I feel it's hightime our government allowed garments factories to allow a certain percentage of the 100% export oriented products to be catered to the domestic market. Our middle class is growing, as is visible with so many good local retailers coming up, i.e. Yellow, Westecs and Ecstasy. Their different outlets are as good as outlets of most global brands in international malls. No?

^^ Until I hear something official, I will lean towards believing that rumors of stores like Prada are false. JFP would do better with some equivalent of Macy's. Only benefit of a store like Prada would be if it caused our wealthy citizens to shop at home and not abroad for high end products...but I don't think it would.

I don't like the design of JFP building . Its such a huge project but the building design is so simple & very common.

I don't like the design of JFP building . Its such a huge project but the building design is so simple & very common.

I understand your viewpoint...and also agree that it's somewhat simple and common...but don't think those characteristics are grounds for disliking it. Certainly the external design is nothing out of the ordinary, but it's a well constructed modern edifice that adds positively to the city's architectural portfolio. Besides which, here in the US, there are many malls which are unremarkable on the outside, but very nice on the inside. IMO, the exterior of JFP compares well against many of these.

I understand your viewpoint...and also agree that it's somewhat simple and common...but don't think those characteristics are grounds for disliking it. Certainly the external design is nothing out of the ordinary, but it's a well constructed modern edifice that adds positively to the city's architectural portfolio. Besides which, here in the US, there are many malls which are unremarkable on the outside, but very nice on the inside. IMO, the exterior of JFP compares well against many of these.

Sorry to say this, but a majority of the malls in the US tend to look the same on the outside.

Sorry to say this, but a majority of the malls in the US tend to look the same on the outside.
well most strip malls do have very similar designs but keep in mind they werent built yesterday!

Sorry to say this, but a majority of the malls in the US tend to look the same on the outside.

I was referring to proper indoor malls not just strip malls. In my county for example there are two large, upscale indoor malls that are pleasant but unremarkable on the outside (just like JFP). On the inside, however, they are very nice (one of them is exellent).

heard from sources that the broken parts of JFP have all been repaired...so thatz a sign that perhaps launch isn't so far away....my bet 1st january 2011...

^^
what has been repaired?

^^
what has been repaired?

the glasses that had been broken down by RAJUK during the demolition drive..the external appearance is now pretty much flawless..

Im guessing Jamuna managed to fix their rift with the goverment.

Im guessing Jamuna managed to fix their rift with the goverment.
Yes, that's what we'd like to know.

They have fixed the demolished part but sadly again without any permission from Rajuk.


Anyways.. I heard there is a HUGE multiplex theater in JFP with 7 -10 movie halls. What will be shown in these halls? Smutty low standard Bengali films and decade old English films since Indian / South Asian films are still banned in BD?

^^
well then they better show latest hollywood releases xD

Yea they should stick to Hollywood releases. Indian movies are shit anyway.

Yea they should stick to Hollywood releases. Indian movies are shit anyway.
Perhaps to you, but appeals to the masses, which includes the so-called "middle class". Personally, my mind goes numb whenever I have to subject myself to the most of the Bollywood stuff, which is often since I'm surrounded by women who dig them. Not that Hollywood makes great stuff anyway. Only once in a while, and so goes Bollywood, to be fair, which of course is a rare occurrence.

^^A lot of the good Hollywood stuff goes unnoticed sadly. A good film isnt always commercially successful. But theres enough stuff out there every year thats watchable. There are other countries that make good movies as well. Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Korea come to mind.

Bollywood makes like 5 good movies a year. India makes like 800 movies a year dont kno what percentage is bollywood among those but they say there are good Telugu/Tamil movies of which I can understand a word.

Im worried abot the impact of bollywood on our culture more than anything. Everytime Im out on the streets I hear hindi songs here and there. Every wedding I go to the clothing, music and dance is all bollywood marka. On the billboards there are bollywood superstars. But our TV channels arent allowed to air in West Bengal.

.....
Im worried abot the impact of bollywood on our culture more than anything. Everytime Im out on the streets I hear hindi songs here and there. Every wedding I go to the clothing, music and dance is all bollywood marka. On the billboards there are bollywood superstars. But our TV channels arent allowed to air in West Bengal.
You're worried? I'm sorry to wake you to inform you that it is already a lost cause. My niece got married two weekends ago. It was like a script from a Hindi movie. While it is understandable here, since zee tv arrived on these shores long before any Bangla channel, to put it metaphorically, it is an utter disgrace and totally indefensible that people in Bangladesh have jumped on the same bandwagon, sacrificing they own rich cultural heritage. :ohno:

^^^ You can't do anything to stop cultural influence on you and your surroundings' life style in this 21st century coz of cable tv, facebook, youtube, DVD etc. We just need to pick up good things from others and avoid bad ones. If we don't have problem screening Spiderman then we should not have problem with Krrish as well. If you respect other peoples' culture then only you can respect your culture.

If Indian films are sh*t then what about those semi porn distasteful Bangla films ? Is this our culture? Now don't blame bollywood for extremely low standard Bangla films coz there is a tendency among some intellectuals to blame bollywood culture for any unethical activities in BD. If some one is accused for doing extra marital affair then blame Indian serials, for rape just blame Indian movies!

Most of the Indian serials having no sense but you can't ignore that these serials have tight screenplay which hold people attention . Bangla serials don't have such tight screenplay to hold attention even though these serials are better than Indian serials in terms of story but recently the standard of BD natok has lowered down noticeably. Now what will the viewer do ? They can't go to hall to see Dibjol movies , they can't watch talk shows all the time in BD channels. We give these poor viewers no option to shed out their Star Plus , Sony, Zee TV obsession. Even Indian , Pakistani, Srilankan, Nepali all films are banned. What will they do other than watching pirated copies of movies & Indian serials on small screen?

I don't have any shame to say (Why should I?) that I like Indian films & I want to see these films in theatre. (I know from sources that South Asian movies will be allowed again)

I don't have any problem hearing Hindi songs in wedding reception if it sounds good to my ears BUT if something seems really insulting to my culture then only I have problem. I don't think hearing hindi songs or a bride wearing a lehenga in wedding ceremony is an insult to Bengali culture.

^^^ You can't do anything to stop cultural influence on you and your surroundings' life style in this 21st century coz of cable tv, facebook, youtube, DVD etc. We just need to pick up good things from others and avoid bad ones. If we don't have problem screening Spiderman then we should not have problem with Krrish as well. If you respect other peoples' culture then only you can respect your culture.

If Indian films are sh*t then what about those semi porn distasteful Bangla films ? Is this our culture? Now don't blame bollywood for extremely low standard Bangla films coz there is a tendency among some intellectuals to blame bollywood culture for any unethical activities in BD. If some one is accused for doing extra marital affair then blame Indian serials, for rape just blame Indian movies!

Most of the Indian serials having no sense but you can't ignore that these serials have tight screenplay which hold people attention . Bangla serials don't have such tight screenplay to hold attention even though these serials are better than Indian serials in terms of story but recently the standard of BD natok has lowered down noticeably. Now what will the viewer do ? They can't go to hall to see Dibjol movies , they can't watch talk shows all the time in BD channels. We give these poor viewers no option to shed out their Star Plus , Sony, Zee TV obsession. Even Indian , Pakistani, Srilankan, Nepali all films are banned. What will they do other than watching pirated copies of movies & Indian serials on small screen?

I don't have any shame to say (Why should I?) that I like Indian films & I want to see these films in theatre. (I know from sources that South Asian movies will be allowed again)

I don't have any problem hearing Hindi songs in wedding reception if it sounds good to my ears BUT if something seems really insulting to my culture then only I have problem. I don't think hearing hindi songs or a bride wearing a lehenga in wedding ceremony is an insult to Bengali culture.
ditto...

the so called atels of bangladesh should be hanged i have never seen any of them protest about the haalat of bengali cinema... the movie makers on the other hand say its the audiences fault for not supporting them... i like seriously if you make shit am i supposed to watch it just cause you are making stuff in my language

they need to realize we are in a globalized world why cant they look at japan n korea?

even in europe the indigenous culture is pretty much lost

Folks

Please consider it as a friendly advice that profanity in any form, whether in the form of misspelling or use of substitution is unacceptable. Learn to express your opinion without resorting to vulgarity. Otherwise your posts will be subject to censor.

Thanks.

You can't do anything to stop cultural influence on you and your surroundings' life style in this 21st century coz of cable tv, facebook, youtube, DVD etc. We just need to pick up good things from others and avoid bad ones.

I don't think hearing hindi songs or a bride wearing a lehenga in wedding ceremony is an insult to Bengali culture.

Picking up the good things and avoiding the bad ones doesnt include replaceing your own culture with another one. Which is what Lehenga and hindi songs in a wedding exactly is. I wonder how would people feel if I decided to have a western style wedding with my bride in a white dress and then walking down the aisle to our "Just Married" car after the kiss. Its safe to say ppl will be outraged.

I don't have any shame to say (Why should I?) that I like Indian films & I want to see these films in theatre.

Its ok just like the person who watches semi porn distatsteful Dipjol movies doesnt have any shame in admitting he/she likes them. Its all abt taste. :)

I would personally watch District 9 and Shutter Island over KANK and Krrish.

I have quite a few Indian freinds and classmates who think Bollywood and Indian serials are rubbish as well. So no hard feelings.

Picking up the good things and avoiding the bad ones doesnt include replaceing your own culture with another one. Which is what Lehenga and hindi songs in a wedding exactly is. I wonder how would people feel if I decided to have a western style wedding with my bride in a white dress and then walking down the aisle to our "Just Married" car after the kiss. Its safe to say ppl will be outraged.



Its ok just like the person who watches semi porn distatsteful Dipjol movies doesnt have any shame in admitting he/she likes them. Its all abt taste. :)

I would personally watch District 9 and Shutter Island over KANK and Krrish.

I have quite a few Indian freinds and classmates who think Bollywood and Indian serials are rubbish as well. So no hard feelings.
dude its fob to watch desi stuff so ofcourse you will get such remarks!

I wonder how would people feel if I decided to have a western style wedding with my bride in a white dress and then walking down the aisle to our "Just Married" car after the kiss. Its safe to say ppl will be outraged.

LOL... Bro , bride in white dress , giving kiss on cheek after marriage are also seen in christian marriages of BD. Its a matter of religion & we should not make a community feel like their religious culture is considered to be western culture , not the culture of the country they belong.

Its ok just like the person who watches semi porn distatsteful Dipjol movies doesnt have any shame in admitting he/she likes them. Its all abt taste.

I would personally watch District 9 and Shutter Island over KANK and Krrish.

I have quite a few Indian freinds and classmates who think Bollywood and Indian serials are rubbish as well. So no hard feelings.

Did I say that I prefer watching KANK & Krish over District 9 and Shutter Island ? When I see a film I don't look at whether its from Bollywood or Hollywood. I just enjoy my time watching a good film. Thats it. I won't definitely say Indian movies are sh*t like the way you said but I would say only low standard movies are sh*t . I would personally pick a HDDCS / Lagaan / Jodhaa Akbar / Taare Zameen Pe over District 9 and Shutter Island any day. Suppose there is a great film released worldwide & everyone is praising it to sky high but since its from India / from a south Asian country I am not allowed to watch it in theatre. I am only allowed to see any film but not Indian , Pakistani, Srilankan & Nepali films since if I see it on big screen my culture will be destroyed & the people who make Dibjol movies will get a tight slap. This is such utter stupid excuse to ban.

Bollywood movies are not banned in Bangladeshi theatres due to cultural reason. It's because of the strong lobbying of the Bangladeshi film makers on the ground that that they will be unable to compete with high budget movies of India that are based on a somewhat similar culture and context (afterall Indians and Bangladeshis are all part of greater south asia).

Hollywood flicks only have a niche market in Bangladesh and is not a direct competition for the local movies. The majority of the population(lower income population) cannot relate to Transformers and ShreK, only the educated middle and upper class cater to such movies.

This is the exact same reason all Bangladeshi cable channels are banned in West Bengal (but readily available in other parts of India like Bangalore and Chennai). The Indian Bengali Tv industry consider Bangladeshi dramas/shows as a direct comeptition to their work.

Personally, I think there should be a step by step process. Some initiatives should be taken to encourage modernization of the film industry (decreasing taxes on equipments, creating modern film city and providing financial incentive for good quality movies). Once the local industry has some solid standing ground, doors should be opened gradually for bollywood and other movies. Initially restricting to few big cinema theatres in cities... On the long run the competition is good.

I read in newspaper that due to strong demand of exhibitors and cinema hall owners Govt. will again allow films of India & its subcontinent in theatre 20 weeks a year. Bangladeshi films are bombing horribly now a days coz the quality comes down as lowest as possible & only 40 /45 movies are releasing when the demand is at least 100 per year to run the theatres.

LOL... Bro , bride in white dress , giving kiss on cheek after marriage are also seen in christian marriages of BD. Its a matter of religion & we should not make a community feel like their religious culture is considered to be western culture , not the culture of the country they belong.



Did I say that I prefer watching KANK & Krish over District 9 and Shutter Island ? When I see a film I don't look at whether its from Bollywood or Hollywood. I just enjoy my time watching a good film. Thats it. I won't definitely say Indian movies are sh*t like the way you said but I would say only low standard movies are sh*t . I would personally pick a HDDCS / Lagaan / Jodhaa Akbar / Taare Zameen Pe over District 9 and Shutter Island any day. Suppose there is a great film released worldwide & everyone is praising it to sky high but since its from India / from a south Asian country I am not allowed to watch it in theatre. I am only allowed to see any film but not Indian , Pakistani, Srilankan & Nepali films since if I see it on big screen my culture will be destroyed & the people who make Dibjol movies will get a tight slap. This is such utter stupid excuse to ban.
i take it you a fan of bollywood nostalgia? muhabaat ke liye apne jaan ki kurbani bhi de sakte hain hum?

dude its fob to watch desi stuff so ofcourse you will get such remarks!

Nah both fobs and ppl born and raised there had the same opinion. While few will watch the odd hindi flick they agree that hindi serials are trash.

Doesnt Pak also ban Bollywood movies?

Nah both fobs and ppl born and raised there had the same opinion. While few will watch the odd hindi flick they agree that hindi serials are trash.

Doesnt Pak also ban Bollywood movies?

Humn, All Indian films are not trash my friend..did you watch 3 Idiots, Guru, chak de India etc etc etc etc...nowadays only few movies are made which are actually not upto standard in bollywood, even Indians dont watch those movies...however, bollywood movies are making more sense nowadays than before...

Pak banned bollywood movies because of the tensions between 2 countries....

Maximum hollywood movies too are utter crap , they too don't make any sense ..

anyways its all subjected to one's personal opinion..

all the very best Bangladesh

can we please go back to discuss about JFP? :)

Can someone pls remind me what this forum is about as i have lost track.

Doesnt Pak also ban Bollywood movies?

No, not since a long time, and I don't think they will ever be banned again.

I am all for opening up Bollywood movies in Bangladesh, but it needs to be done gradually. Overnight lifting of ban will crush whatever small local industry we have.. Initially the movies can be allowed to screen only in big cities and major malls, at the same time effort needs to be put to invest in local film industry (decrease tax on equipments, do joint venture studios etc). On the long term competition is healthy, if the local industries atleast have some strong foundation to start from.

Coming back to the thread topic, Jamuna Future Park and Bashundhara city are some perfect places, where such regional films can be allowed to be screened.

No, not since a long time, and I don't think they will ever be banned again.

Who reversed the ban? Musharraf? Or Zardari govt? Pak still doesnt allow as many Indian products as BD does. Almost all motorcycles in BD are Indian.

Btw, I saw New Pornographers when they played at my university. Sorry to say they put me to sleep. :)

I'm sure the members here don't appreciate the off-topic discussion so this will be my last reply on this matter in this thread.

Who reversed the ban? Musharraf? Or Zardari govt? Pak still doesnt allow as many Indian products as BD does. Almost all motorcycles in BD are Indian.

I think it was Musharraf. Indian films have been running here officially since before I came back in 2008.

And we have a massive motorcycle assembly capacity here, and also Toyota, Honda, Suzuki etc assembly plants and many other things which India also has so we don't need to import from them.

Btw, I saw New Pornographers when they played at my university. Sorry to say they put me to sleep. :)

Do post on my profile what bands you like

Sorry for the off-topic post guys, :cheers:

Humn, All Indian films are not trash my friend..did you watch 3 Idiots, Guru, chak de India etc etc etc etc...nowadays only few movies are made which are actually not upto standard in bollywood, even Indians dont watch those movies...however, bollywood movies are making more sense nowadays than before...

Pak banned bollywood movies because of the tensions between 2 countries....

Maximum hollywood movies too are utter crap , they too don't make any sense ..

anyways its all subjected to one's personal opinion..

all the very best Bangladesh
true that i liked my name is khan...

3 idiots was viagra weed... the comedy was nice some but they went for extreme over kill..

like popping out the kid with a vacuum cleaner and then you can study under a fake name in the most prestigious engineering school in india my desi friends were telling me to interpret it as paisa ke samne sab jhuk hate hain and sab khareed ja sakte hain

I thot My name is Khan was massive rubbish. Killing a boy by kicking a football into his stomach. :lol:. And dont forget the last scene. It was rainman, forest gump and couple of other ones put together.

3 idiots had a very good message - Dont worry abt grades concentrate on learning. Dont chase money and be part of the race study what u are interested in. And has one funny scene the Balatkar one. Other than that was pretty crap.

I think those 2 and another one are the only ones I've seen in the last year.

yeah bollywood has to have some sort of fairytale attached to it

these are the only two bolly flicks i have seen in recent times the rest i cant even be bothered to watch

^^
Ok folks, moving along now ....

can u all please stop discussing movies here please? :)

recent images of the building?

Some more renderings of Jamuna Future Park


Exterior

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j18.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j2.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j3.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j7.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j8.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j6.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j5.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j4.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j12-1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j13.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j14.jpg


Interior

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j11.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j10.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/mirzazeehan/j9.jpg

Some more renderings of Jamuna Future Park [
Come on, Mirza. You can do better than that. :)

Come on, Mirza. You can do better than that. :)

:lol::lol::lol:

^^
mirza bhai, can u please go around the JFP area and take shots of the mall? i really wanna see how it looks now, try getting inside too :D

Any update on JFP? Are they still planning to open it up by year end? It will be a nice addition before the Worldcup then..

I have followed the progress of this mall. So if you folks can post recent pics or post any recent updates, construction wise and its status (I remember some govt official declared the top level illegal), that would be appreciated.

^^
well, they rebuilt the top floors again so no problem with that issue now! but yeah im desperately waiting for interior pictures and updates from folks in dhaka!

Uploaded Nov 17 by Luminous:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/5184618129_f0f04773cb_b.jpg

Are the image correct? Does this mall have a helipad and private club roof top swimming pool ? if so anyone know what are the membership fees

Are the image correct? Does this mall have a helipad and private club roof top swimming pool ? if so anyone know what are the membership fees

I think those amenities/features exist as concept that may get implemented in phases or not at all. It will be a big disappointment, if this mall turns out to be yet another Bashundhara Mall, after all the hype.

I think those amenities/features exist as concept that may get implemented in phases or not at all. It will be a big disappointment, if this mall turns out to be yet another Bashundhara Mall, after all the hype.

Yeah this place really is turning out to be a real disappointment. And these Jamuna and Bashundhara guys are damn dodgy.

Yeah this place really is turning out to be a real disappointment. And these Jamuna and Bashundhara guys are damn dodgy.

That is sad to hear. I actually had some high hopes on JFP.

I would be happy if the mall actually opens... the constructions are going on forever!

Yeah we got your msg loud and clear. Thanks but no thanks

^^
ermm who u saying this to? :P

I was saying to the guy (now post has been taken off) who was advertising that his company did some ceilig work on JFP and if anyone out there wanted any future working doing on any other building to contact him/his company.

Over 4 years since the thread was opened.. any news on when JFP is opening?

not any time soon!

not any time soon!

Do you know the reason(s) why (as to what is causing the delay)?

Do you know the reason(s) why (as to what is causing the delay)?

Both their website and the Jamuna Group website, has not been updated in 3 years. This has had no press coverage at all.

Do you know the reason(s) why (as to what is causing the delay)?


The Anticorruption drive during the caretaker govt really depleted both Jamuna and Bashundhara group of much needed funds. Thats y Bashundhara City has not been fixed after the fire nor the progress of work with Future City is satisfactory.

Nice starter compilation Tmac. Does anybody know when it's supposed to be complete? Things seems to have progressed nicely despite corruption troubles of its owner, but I would be suprised if the interior is finished this year. My prediction...at current rate of construction...middle of next year.

Bro you were way off in the prediction :)

Bro you were way off in the prediction :)

Not just Tan, but most of our predictions would be off as well, given the peculiar business climate in Bangladesh that is directly affected by (its) political climate.

Perhaps in no other country the fortunes of major business enterprises rise and fall with the rise or fall of (major) political parties.

Does anyone know the status of JFP?

^^
I think only God knows

Not just Tan, but most of our predictions would be off as well, given the peculiar business climate in Bangladesh that is directly affected by (its) political climate.

Perhaps in no other country the fortunes of major business enterprises rise and fall with the rise or fall of (major) political parties.

But it shouldn't take too long to get into the good books of any government in Bangladesh.. everything is forgotten/forgiven when money is being shared with ministers.

Almost 70-80% of the structure was complete last time I checked, so I would think that it's too late to abandon a project at this phase.

Can Mirza or anyone who is in Dhaka now give an update?

But it shouldn't take too long to get into the good books of any government in Bangladesh.. everything is forgotten/forgiven when money is being shared with ministers.

Almost 70-80% of the structure was complete last time I checked, so I would think that it's too late to abandon a project at this phase.

Can Mirza or anyone who is in Dhaka now give an update?

Cranes are present and a few broken glasses here and there have been replaced. Just saw these from my own sight but I have no idea regarding the details.

But it shouldn't take too long to get into the good books of any government in Bangladesh.. everything is forgotten/forgiven when money is being shared with ministers.

Almost 70-80% of the structure was complete last time I checked, so I would think that it's too late to abandon a project at this phase.

Can Mirza or anyone who is in Dhaka now give an update?
not with AL, grudges are never forgiven in AL, once you show a little opposition to it, you are forever shunned!

Good news guys....I visited Jamuna Future Park recently and found work going on in full swing...you can see in the first two pics below that two new extensions are being built.I am kinda surprised as I thought the exterior was complete,but perhaps this is a revised design.Notice the 2nd pic carefully,you will see construction workers working on top of the under-construction part of the mall.I am taking lotsa more pics of Dhaka,and will be posting them soon.Sorry for being out of touch for sometime!:cheers:



Jamuna Future Park,Dhaka


Front Entrance

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111244.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111245.jpg

Western side

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111283.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111247.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111281.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111249.jpg

Back Entrance

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111254.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/JFP/090320111255.jpg

^^ Thanks Mirza...I know a lot of us have been waiting eagerly for these :)

^^
thanks bro, have u tried going inside though?? I wonder whats coming

Probably another handful of random stores like Bashundhara City. Are they building any access roads or expanding surrounding roads? If not, it's gonna be a nightmare!

^^
not really, there are some foreign brands coming in there which I know already but I wanted to know more info

^^
not really, there are some foreign brands coming in there which I know already but I wanted to know more info

Remains to be seen and seeing is believing.

Right, I strongly doubt it...there's so few foreign brands here as it is - levis, nike, reebok, united colors of benetton, adidas, hush puppies..that's pretty much it...

Right, I strongly doubt it...there's so few foreign brands here as it is - levis, nike, reebok, united colors of benetton, adidas, hush puppies..that's pretty much it...

If I'm not mistaken, Benetton exited from Bangladesh a few years ago.

Right, I strongly doubt it...there's so few foreign brands here as it is - levis, nike, reebok, united colors of benetton, adidas, hush puppies..that's pretty much it...

I have seen in news reports about JFP and they showed the interior a little bit and I noticed Prada, Coach, and Tiffany& Co. stores

they bullshited, first of all there are no prada or tiffany stores even in india, not sure about coach.

benetton exited bd 5 yrs ago the rangs dudes still kept the signs on, to sell whatever they could, reebok is at a loss (word on the street is that they import all their stuff from india, that plays a role as many upscale people do not want indian products and reebok intl subsidies the stores they scaled down from three big stores to just one small one), there is also a puma store, owned by the same people so that doesnt help the reputation either, adidas including levis and dockers exited a while ago then they came back with that stupid brand peter england

they have two stores in dhaka, i am sure they only kill flies, who'd pay 5000 taka for a pair of medicore levis jeans made in india, when you can get a better quality of levis jeans made in bangladesh at bongobazar for 300 taka

same goes for their stupid shirts at planet fashion or what ever name that is, custom made for madura fashion at 4000 taka, i would never buy that i dont know of any one who'd buy them either, most people i know get their stuff from singapore/malaysia/thailand or at other local brands such as cats eye or seal or dhaka college where you can get the version exported to north ameirca at 300 taka

India does have Prada and Tiffany stores as well as Armani, Gucci, Ralph Lauren CK......Sir...in almost all major cities of India.....cheers

Yeah, that's a failure. We export more then we sell locally, I guess.

We are soon going to be #1 clothing exporter to USA and UK!

India's does have Prada and Tiffany stores in India as well as Armani, Gucci, Ralph Lauren CK......Sir...in almost all major cities of India.....cheers
you mean you can find their products, do they have a flag ship store?

funny they dont have those stores listed on their store directory!

Yup....There's a super luxury mall in New Delhi DLF EMPORIO.....is touted to be the poshest of all malls in S.Asia and one of the best in ASIA....

they have all the luxury stores over there....

here's the link

http://www.dlfemporio.com/dlf/wcm/connect/Emporio/emporio%20site/left%20link/store%20locator/by%20category/fashion/default-categories-fashion?WCM_PI=1&WCM_PI=1&WCM_Page.fd696a004af8553b8649a6517e0462b1=1

not just clothing but everything luxury one can think of.....We have similar malls in Mumbai and Bangalore....however, DLF Emporio is the best and most luxurious....
and Emporio gives Mercedes E-Series and BMW's as gifts ( Lucky draws) every year along with other luxury offerings...

Here's the Photo Gallery of the Mall.....

http://www.dlfemporio.com/dlf/wcm/connect/emporio/Emporio+Site/Left+Link/GALLERY/

there are many other malls in New Delhi which boast of almost all major international brands...!!!!


Cheers

nice shopping mall, but it will not like the dubai mall, that is very large and also on international level,

^^ So on what level is EMporio...??? Ehhhh

I am not sure what a mall in Dubai has anything to do with a Dhaka thread...

And why the obsession with these luxury brands? What percentage of even us forumers would actually shop at them? In my neighborhood here in West LA there is a proliferation of such shops but to me they have little utility other than making the street look nice. Bashundhara City's mix of mid-range shops has actually been quite successful and works well for the Bangladeshi middle / upper middle class as it is today.

dope mia, they didnt bullshit! i told u i SAW them in the videos!!

Yup....There's a super luxury mall in New Delhi DLF EMPORIO.....is touted to be the poshest of all malls in S.Asia and one of the best in ASIA....

they have all the luxury stores over there....

here's the link

http://www.dlfemporio.com/dlf/wcm/connect/Emporio/emporio%20site/left%20link/store%20locator/by%20category/fashion/default-categories-fashion?WCM_PI=1&WCM_PI=1&WCM_Page.fd696a004af8553b8649a6517e0462b1=1

not just clothing but everything luxury one can think of.....We have similar malls in Mumbai and Bangalore....however, DLF Emporio is the best and most luxurious....
and Emporio gives Mercedes E-Series and BMW's as gifts ( Lucky draws) every year along with other luxury offerings...
i still dont see a prada store or a tiffanys store listed there!

I am not sure what a mall in Dubai has anything to do with a Dhaka thread...

And why the obsession with these luxury brands? What percentage of even us forumers would actually shop at them? In my neighborhood here in West LA there is a proliferation of such shops but to me they have little utility other than making the street look nice. Bashundhara City's mix of mid-range shops has actually been quite successful and works well for the Bangladeshi middle / upper middle class as it is today.
true that,

oh and mind you that most stores in the bashundhora mall just barely breakeven, usually the owner has couple of other stores around the city, shara bochor machi mare, eid er shomoi kina becha hoi r ki

dope mia, they didnt bullshit! i told u i SAW them in the videos!!
they can put up any thing in the rendering or so, and tell me who would they market it to? and then they;d have netas calling them in and saying "oi amar oi nutun bharshachee ghori ta pochondo hoyeche bashai pathiye dao"

they can put up any thing in the rendering or so, and tell me who would they market it to? and then they;d have netas calling them in and saying "oi amar oi nutun bharshachee ghori ta pochondo hoyeche bashai pathiye dao"

it was NOT rendering! it was in a news footage!!!

it was NOT rendering! it was in a news footage!!!
how comes there are no news from the owners of the brands, how comes they arent speaking up about expanding into bangladesh?

^^
as to that, we'll have to find out later when the mall opens

if it opens... that is

I visited the site of the mall several times and found work to be going on...here is a shot taken recently.....

Just compare the size of the people to that of the mall!!:lol:

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/mirzazeehan1989/z-1.jpg

any news if it will ever open or not?

how comes there are no news from the owners of the brands, how comes they arent speaking up about expanding into bangladesh?

Simply because they don't acknowledge Bangladesh as an addressable market as yet. While our middle class has emerged significantly over the past decade or so, it has a while to go. For example (might not seem totally analogous at first), according to reliable market intelligence, the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh more than 30 million subscribers has 5,000 iPhone users, i.e. roughly 0.017% (or 17 out of 100,000) of its customer base carries an iPhone. Why not compare this to the average say the average middle-class economy, where all the relatively large global retailers are present.

^^ I agree, even if we consider only 10% of Bangladeshis earn above $10,000 (in nominal terms) a year, that number is a staggering 15-16 million. That's bigger than the population of a number of European and African countries.

^^ I agree, even if we consider only 10% of Bangladeshis earn above $10,000 (in nominal terms) a year, that number is a staggering 15-16 million. That's bigger than the population of a number of European and African countries.

That's not the case...yet.

The total nominal GDP of BD is about $100 billion. Therefore, 10% cannot be earning $160 billion.

^^ You are right Tanzirian Bhai! My bad..... as an economist, I should have crunched my numbers a little better! Maybe in PPP terms then.

Simply because they don't acknowledge Bangladesh as an addressable market as yet. While our middle class has emerged significantly over the past decade or so, it has a while to go. For example (might not seem totally analogous at first), according to reliable market intelligence, the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh more than 30 million subscribers has 5,000 iPhone users, i.e. roughly 0.017% (or 17 out of 100,000) of its customer base carries an iPhone. Why not compare this to the average say the average middle-class economy, where all the relatively large global retailers are present.
lets look at it at a different way, according to the bangladesh bank there around 30,000 people in bd with more then 1crore cash legally,

"If assets like house, land, transport and business capital are taken into account, the real number of crorepatis will be much greater, said bankers, and the number will be huge if owners of black money are included."

http://www.priyo.com/business/2011/06/05/about-6000-new-crorepatis-emer-28089.html

assuming when factoring in all these, the number of crorepatis goes up 10x, i.e. 300,000

thats not a very sizable target market is it?

^^ That would imply that there is about 300,000 families with at least 1 cr taka as assets. But I think the number is much higher. An apartment in Gulshan is close to 1 cr now, and the same goes for Baridhara. The number of families living in these two neighborhood is pretty big. But then, you have a bunch of rich Dhakaiyas living in Old Town who don't want to ostensibly display their money (except during Kurbani Eid), and not mentioning the ones living in Bailey Road, Wari, Mirpur, etc.

This is not even counting the 'sowdagars' in Chittagong and the Sylhetis.

^^ That would imply that there is about 300,000 families with at least 1 cr taka as assets. But I think the number is much higher. An apartment in Gulshan is close to 1 cr now, and the same goes for Baridhara. The number of families living in these two neighborhood is pretty big. But then, you have a bunch of rich Dhakaiyas living in Old Town who don't want to ostensibly display their money (except during Kurbani Eid), and not mentioning the ones living in Bailey Road, Wari, Mirpur, etc.

This is not even counting the 'sowdagars' in Chittagong and the Sylhetis.

Agreed and BTW brother, long gone are the days when you could get an apartment in Gulshan for BDT 1 crore in Gulshan. It's far higher now. A katha of land itself on Gulshan Avenue costs a good USD 2 million now and these prices are rapidly escalating.

^^
and yet there seems to be lot of people buying lands and apartments

... But then, you have a bunch of rich Dhakaiyas living in Old Town who don't want to ostensibly display their money (except during Kurbani Eid), and not mentioning the ones living in Bailey Road, Wari, Mirpur, etc.

This is not even counting the 'sowdagars' in Chittagong and the Sylhetis.

These days it is hard to decide who has got money and who hasn't by their looks. The number of "Abashon Mela's" Rehab is arranging and the number of plats/plots being sold is a surprise in itself!
I have been to many of these 'sowdagars' places and trust me, some of them live in a place next to slums, yet they run huge businesses. Can't say about everyone but for many it's not that they don't want to spend money. They don't want to leave the place they have been living for many generations.

^^ That would imply that there is about 300,000 families with at least 1 cr taka as assets. But I think the number is much higher. An apartment in Gulshan is close to 1 cr now, and the same goes for Baridhara. The number of families living in these two neighborhood is pretty big. But then, you have a bunch of rich Dhakaiyas living in Old Town who don't want to ostensibly display their money (except during Kurbani Eid), and not mentioning the ones living in Bailey Road, Wari, Mirpur, etc.

This is not even counting the 'sowdagars' in Chittagong and the Sylhetis.
30,000 is bangladesh banks data, not mine that is legally, i assumed 10 times illegally, land prices in gulshan indicates how the country has been brutally raped and is still being raped.

Agreed and BTW brother, long gone are the days when you could get an apartment in Gulshan for BDT 1 crore in Gulshan. It's far higher now. A katha of land itself on Gulshan Avenue costs a good USD 2 million now and these prices are rapidly escalating.
its not always about money, its about family heritage and tradition and what not, i find that trait almost extinct in bangladesh, like my dad tells me during his early days the pattern of society was very different, these days its just blah, if someone was working in the government and took bribes, they were kind of looked down upon in society, now days its the opposite, whats even more funny is that most the top businesses in bd minus a few are actually there because of political clout and muscle power not brain power.

and how many apartments are there in gulshan/banani/baridhara/dhanmondi/wari (you reckon?)


oh and tislam84 its not 1crore asset, its 1 crore cash

^^ Yeah Dope, I am not refuting your claim, but I feel like a lot of people still prefer to do business in cash, and few people put money in the bank and stash them in their mattresses (black money). And I agree, because there isn't much of an investment scope in Bangladesh, so people invest in something that has value, ie, land and buildings.

Sas, that's amazing, now you want to question who are these people who have so much money, maybe Forbes should create a Who's who list for Bangladesh.

One guess about number of apartments. Assuming one apartment building has 20 apartments, and there is about 500 plots in Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Dhanmondi and Uttara each (of course Gulshan is much bigger than Baridhara and Banani, but just estimating), then you have around 500*20*5= 50,000 apartments. So, at least that many people have some pretty good amount of money.

And I am not even counting Mirpur (I grew up there) where there are some obscenely rich people living (like the ones who collects tickets from Gabtoli bus-stand, cow-market, etc). I agree with toon77, they don't look like they have any money, and yet, they basically are owners of millions of takas.

^^ Yeah Dope, I am not refuting your claim, but I feel like a lot of people still prefer to do business in cash, and few people put money in the bank and stash them in their mattresses (black money). And I agree, because there isn't much of an investment scope in Bangladesh, so people invest in something that has value, ie, land and buildings.

Sas, that's amazing, now you want to question who are these people who have so much money, maybe Forbes should create a Who's who list for Bangladesh.

One guess about number of apartments. Assuming one apartment building has 20 apartments, and there is about 500 plots in Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Dhanmondi and Uttara each (of course Gulshan is much bigger than Baridhara and Banani, but just estimating), then you have around 500*20*5= 50,000 apartments. So, at least that many people have some pretty good amount of money.

And I am not even counting Mirpur (I grew up there) where there are some obscenely rich people living (like the ones who collects tickets from Gabtoli bus-stand, cow-market, etc). I agree with toon77, they don't look like they have any money, and yet, they basically are owners of millions of takas.
that is absolutely wrong, there are limitless avenues of investment in bangladesh, these chors are greedy, they want more and more for themselves without letting others around them also get benefits, look at how beximco works, now matter what people say, i still say mr salman is the most brilliant business man in bangladesh, the others are mostly here with muscle power, thats why you see them rising only when their patronized government is in power,

if one were to truely invest, sectors in bangladesh that have a huge rate of return if implemented properly, agriculture, cold storage, energy sector, entertainment, manufacturing sector (small scale for now) like parts for cars, backward linkages for other industries, fmcg, retail sector, and many other labor intensive projects that require minimal training and education, true all over the world everything is moving to automation, but still there is a long way to go, bangladesh absolutely must take advantage of that

.... there are limitless avenues of investment in bangladesh, .....

Could you please list some?

that is absolutely wrong, there are limitless avenues of investment in bangladesh, these chors are greedy, they want more and more for themselves without letting others around them also get benefits, look at how beximco works, now matter what people say, i still say mr salman is the most brilliant business man in bangladesh, the others are mostly here with muscle power, thats why you see them rising only when their patronized government is in power,

if one were to truely invest, sectors in bangladesh that have a huge rate of return if implemented properly, agriculture, cold storage, energy sector, entertainment, manufacturing sector (small scale for now) like parts for cars, backward linkages for other industries, fmcg, retail sector, and many other labor intensive projects that require minimal training and education, true all over the world everything is moving to automation, but still there is a long way to go, bangladesh absolutely must take advantage of that

Who's Mr. Salman, again?

Could you please list some?
i did re read the above post...

Who's Mr. Salman, again?
co-owner of beximco

Who's Mr. Salman, again?

Lol Mr. Salman F Rahman is the Chairman of BEXIMCO, arguably the largest Bangladeshi congolomerate with businesses across textiles and RMG, pharmaceuticals, trading and retailing, real estate and construction, aviation and financial services, to name a few.

Actually, I would think Zahurul Islam was more shrewed of a businessman than Salman F Rahman, but too bad his successors could not keep up his business empire.

Actually, I would think Zahurul Islam was more shrewed of a businessman than Salman F Rahman, but too bad his successors could not keep up his business empire.
johirul islam wasnt as shrewd, as people make it him to be, he knew what to do and when, and he was a very nice person, his successors couldnt keep up because they were greedy all his brothers wanted shares which they werent entitled to, so his son almost ended up with nothing, his islam group was split up to form aftab group, navana group, one other one i forgot, eastern housing is still the most reputable real estate and developing company in the country, where as bashundhora and co have to give so many offers and what not to attract and entice customers and then cheat them, whereas eastern housing has no such track records.

^^ He was shrewed in the sense that he realized the value of land way before other businessmen. He basically bought a lot of low-lying land in and around Dhaka, and later sold them as plots or built apartments on them, the reason (along with being honest as you have mentioned) why Eastern Housing is so profitable. But yeah, other than that, the breakdown of the parent company Islam Group after his death due to greediness is very unfortunate.

thats pure business sense, but look at what the others are doing today grabbing land forcefully and then selling it to other middle class people, le sigh!

another very smart business group would be the ispahanis but they cant be classified as 100% bangladeshi, and dont forget akij, they are very big too infact right at the top, and the least scandal associated with business house in bd, the new rising business houses now like summit n co, are solely based on muscle power, very lacking on the merit side.

^^ He was shrewed in the sense that he realized the value of land way before other businessmen. He basically bought a lot of low-lying land in and around Dhaka, and later sold them as plots or built apartments on them, the reason (along with being honest as you have mentioned) why Eastern Housing is so profitable. But yeah, other than that, the breakdown of the parent company Islam Group after his death due to greediness is very unfortunate.

The man must not have left behind a (civil) will that decreed all his property and wealth to his children only. This is a case in point where Sharia Law in regards to inheritance, hurts rather than helps.

^^ I am pretty sure he did not, because his sons started sqabbling and they basically broke the company into different parts, as Dope has mentioned. True, Shariah law does ask for distribution of property in a certain way, but the sons (if they wanted to) could have just distributed shares of the original company, thus keeping the original firm intact, instead of physically breaking the firm.

This kind of reminds me of India's Reliance Industries, albeit in a much smaller scale.

not his sons, his brothers did, his son was young, he has one son

Can we please discuss about Bangladeshi businessmen in a new thread?

Let's get back to Jamuna Future Park. Have any roads been built to support all the traffic?

Please get real!

This is sad but Jamuna Future Park is again an example of building something way out of economical sustanaibility, the market is not mature enough to host such a large mall.

Not many international retailers are considering Bangladesh, the mass consumtion is not there yet.

If that building open within the next 5 years (which I doubt very much) it will not be as a mall, the closest could be a very big bazar...

What a waste!

I hope JFP opens soon along with the cineplex, Dhaka doesn't have any proper multiplex cenema hall other than Bashundhara, even that is a year behind in terms of movies shown.

..........Dhaka doesn't have any proper multiplex cenema hall other than Bashundhara, even that is a year behind in terms of movies shown.

That is because the movie theater owner does not want to shell out top dollars for (more) recent releases.

Have you noticed that the long held tradition of showing popular western night time TV serials on Bangladeshi televisions channels are gone long?

That is because the movie theater owner does not want to shell out top dollars for (more) recent releases.

Have you noticed that the long held tradition of showing popular western night time TV serials on Bangladeshi televisions channels are gone long?
yeah engrezi onushtan dhekhiye shomoi nosto korar ki dorkar, nije der bhashar onhsutan oi jaigai dewa hok

Have you noticed that the long held tradition of showing popular western night time TV serials on Bangladeshi televisions channels are gone long?

That was on BTV. I have vague memories of good old days when we would tune in to watch Macgyver every wednesday night. Was a great show.

yeah engrezi onushtan dhekhiye shomoi nosto korar ki dorkar, nije der bhashar onhsutan oi jaigai dewa hok

Is that your own position (contention) or are you being facetious?

Is that your own position (contention) or are you being facetious?
i was being sarcastic, a lot of people in the btv certainly believe so, no longer interested in running english shows, doesnt bring in sponsors and mass viewers, a very senior bhaia once told me like in the late 80's and early 90's, these shows helped them in improving their english

i was being sarcastic, a lot of people in the btv certainly believe so, no longer interested in running english shows, doesnt bring in sponsors and mass viewers, a very senior bhaia once told me like in the late 80's and early 90's, these shows helped them in improving their english

But of course, it isn't feasible for any of the TV networks inclusive of BTV, to air those western (American mostly) shows if there are no sponsors. Those shows after all cost a great deal of money. In comparison it must be peanuts to create/purchase those Bangla dramas/serials.

Guys, whats happening with JFP, do they plan to complet it or leave on hold for another 10yrs.

Guys, whats happening with JFP, do they plan to complet it or leave on hold for another 10yrs.

Any big project like JFP has been delayed for years! Metro and elevated expressway have been talked about for nearly 15 years, same with Holiday Inn by the airport, Bashundhara City and Westin...

Is it open yet?

I think by 2013 (fingers crossed).

guys anyone know when is that gonna be open , really looking forward to it

I guess they are building amusement rides in front of JFP...

Pic by Shameem Bakhshi

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/69374379.jpg

What's with that? I would think that area would be reserved for parking? Perhaps it's some sort of illegal establishment being built?

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/69374379.jpg

What's with that? I would think that area would be reserved for parking? Perhaps it's some sort of illegal establishment being built?

Maybe the developers are taking a page from some bigger malls abroad that do have amusement rides...though they generally tend to be inside, not outside.

Just me personally, I think it considerably cheapens the exterior of an otherwise classy venture.

What's with that? I would think that area would be reserved for parking? Perhaps it's some sort of illegal establishment being built?

The parking space for 5000 cars is supposed to be in the basement....this looks like Roller coasters to me,and prolly the most scariest one in bd.They were actually supposed to have an open space with fountains here...so am a lil confused.

The parking space for 5000 cars is supposed to be in the basement....this looks like Roller coasters to me,and prolly the most scariest one in bd.They were actually supposed to have an open space with fountains here...so am a lil confused.

I don't really mind the idea of the rides itself...just the placement. The fountain court was, aesthetically speaking, a much nicer foil for the building IMO.

Maybe the developers are taking a page from some bigger malls abroad that do have amusement rides...though they generally tend to be inside, not outside.

Just me personally, I think it considerably cheapens the exterior of an otherwise classy venture.

They're gonna get rusty and have to be repaired or closed every year before Eid. Regarding the status of the mall, you can refer to the retail outlets thread for a recent article that claims that there will be an indoor children's park. In the cityscapes thread, I have posted a picture of some sort of large excavation in front of the mall, looks like a foundating will be laid there for something. It's right across from NSU, although that may actually be the AIUB campus location.

^^
I like the idea of a roller coaster, but why didn't they do it in the back or inside because it looks ugly like that, I am shocked, I was waiting for this for a long time, but I am bit dissapointed because it looks messy. :bash:

I guess it wouldn't be practical to expect the owners to keep open space and fountains in front of the mall.There is about 35 bighas of open space in front of the mall....since each bigha consists of 20 kathah,and each kathah by the main road would have a market value of about 4 crore taka at least,then the market value of the open space would be around 3000 crore taka,or 400 million USD.:nuts:
No one would want to keep almost half billion dollars worth of land in Dhaka un-used.

I guess it wouldn't be practical to expect the owners to keep open space and fountains in front of the mall.There is about 35 bighas of open space in front of the mall....since each bigha consists of 20 kathah,and each kathah by the main road would have a market value of about 4 crore taka at least,then the market value of the open space would be around 3000 crore taka,or 400 million USD.:nuts:
No one would want to keep almost half billion dollars worth of land in Dhaka un-used.

Personally, I think it would add greater perceived value to their property as a classy fountain court than as a cheap thrill park. And if an economic incentive is needed, why not put some good food stalls / coffee carts out there for the benefit of people who would want to hang out there?

Personally, I think it would add greater perceived value to their property as a classy fountain court than as a cheap thrill park. And if an economic incentive is needed, why not put some good food stalls / coffee carts out there for the benefit of people who would want to hang out there?

I agree with you....an open space with fountain would have been great!

^^
I also agree, but whats done is done now, but I have a feeling that it might not last for long.

What a crap looking shopping mall in the making. Who is the architect?

Don't know if its really the largest mall in south asia but I am sure its gonna be one of the ugliest malls in the region. Very cheap looking mall.

Bashundhara City mall looks atleast 100 times better that this crap.