The Economic Times, August 5th 2023

Delhi. Finland’s SuperPark, which operates indoor activity parks in five countries, is in talks with leading mall developers in India to open its franchise, three people aware of the development said.

In India, SuperPark will compete with Australian family entertainment operator Timezone, Lulu Mall’s Funtura and Kidzania, all of which have aggressive expansion plans for this year.

Entertainment and fun parks, the worst impacted business due to the pandemic, are considered among the “footfall generators” for malls.

“We have signed a master franchise agreement with FranGlobal in India, and while the first park should be operational within a year, in five years we would like to have 25-30 parks in the country,” said Juha Tanskanen, CEO of SuperPark Ltd.

With aggressive expansion planned by leading mall operators, entertainment parks are expected to play a big role in drawing consumers to the malls.

“Entertainment parks are crucial for generating footfalls for the mall, and as the malls are getting bigger, these parks are also doubling the space,” said Muhammad Ali, CEO, Forum Malls of Bangalore based Prestige group. “India will have entertainment zones like Dubai, which will cater to all age groups and help in the revenue of shopping mall.”

SuperPark started in 2012 in Finland and started going global in 2017. It is looking at 25,000-30,000 sq ft area in each mall.

“With many malls under construction in India, we have initiated discussion to be the anchor store for them,” said Juha Tanskanen. “We want to be in all the major cities in the country.”

According to retail experts, many local operators have also sensed the opportunity and are opening gaming zone or adventure sports facilities at standalone centres.