The Express Avenue Mall @ Namma Chennai :-)

Here comes another shopping mall to our Chennai City - The Express Avenue (EA) mall at Royapettah. I was told that the mall is owned by the Indian Express company. Work is still in progress though 30-40% of the shops are already open for the public.

Where is EA?

Here is the address of the mall : Express Avenue Mall, Club House Road, Express Estate, Royapettah, Chennai. (Its opposite to the famous Royapettah Clock Tower)

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Whats there @ EA?

As mentioned above, only 30-40% of the shops are open now. Many famous brands (Louis Phillipe, Van Heusen, Peter England, Adidas, Reebok, etc) have opened their showrooms here. The planning about grouping the showrooms (eg: Men's apparel showrooms next to each other, likewise for footwear shops, kids wear shops, etc) is a very good idea.

Big Bazaar has opened a large shop in the mall - i think this is bigger than their Vadapalani showroom.

and here is an animation video about the design of the mall:

Entertainment @ EA:

The Satyam Cinemas is opening up 8 screens in the top floor by the start of next month.

Food Court @ EA:

Again many famous foot outlets in Chennai have stall, here. The only drawback is that cash is not accepted in any of this stalls. We need to buy something called EA Food Card (for Rs. 20/-) and then refill them with some amount to buy food.

the Grilled Chicken @ the Arabian Hut there tasted good. 1/2 plate (Rs. 120/-) will be sufficient for two people.

Parking

They almost charge like Rs. 10/- per hour for a two wheeler. I don't know if it is only for the weekends, but even then this is too much. Also there was no mobile signal in the parking area (which is actually below the basement) If you want to test the power of you vehicle in climbing heights, you can do it over here while coming out of the parking area

Overall, the Express Avenue mall is certainly a pleasant shopping (even if its only a window shopping) experience in the city - provided you don't take your own vehicle.