28 April,2009 08:01 AM IST | | Shweta Shiware
Security arrangements at the Taj Mahal hotel have marred window display, and reduced walk-in customer foot fall A double barricade runs from the Heritage wing entrance right round the building to what used to be the luxury menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna's main standalone store entrance The Zegna window display before the 26/11 terror attack. pics/Shadab Khan
Security arrangements at the Taj Mahal hotel have marred window display, and reduced walk-in customer foot fall
At the risk of trivialising terror, a pal joked how Qasab had, forever, ruined the joy of waltzing into the Taj "just to pee". A 3-level frisking and scanning process makes sure you take no less than 10 minutes to get in through the new-wing entrance. Both entrances to the Heritage wing are blocked by a double barricade that extends all the way around the building, which means shoppers visiting the luxury boutiques located here (Mont Blanc, Moschino, Bulgari), especially those like Louis Vuitton and Zegna that are located at the fag end, have to wind their way through the lobby and round the hotel to get here.u00a0 Although the Taj management and representatives of most brands didn't want to go on record, the latter did confess to a slight decline in walk-in customer foot fall, especially with window displays marred by double level barricades. Remu Zaveri, proprietor of Joy Shoes, a 70 year-old footwear boutique located at The Taj, says just when they thought things were getting back to normal, they received intimation from the Taj management about the Mumbai police's
stringent security plans. "Taj has even hired an international security agency's services. Although I'm at the store morning to evening, I'm frisked every day. It just has to be done," he says. Although the spontaneous shopper may be dissuaded, Zaveri says regulars aren't affected. "Some of them travel an hour to get here. What's another 15 minutes?"
Customer speak
"I've been a regular Taj shopper, especially at Louis Vuitton and Joy Shoes, but 26/11 has made me wary of shopping there. I visited the LV store last week, and it was quite a walk thanks to all the blocked gates, not to mention the frisking and scanning which did feel like a nuisance. But we must realise that this is for the safety of shoppers."
Nayntara Thacker, entrepreneuru00a0
"I used to frequent the fashion boutiques and the Patisserie at the Taj every week, sometimes even more often. But after I lost my cousins in the terror attack, I've stopped going there. It's not a place of pleasant memories anymore. Luckily, I travel abroad quite a bit, so, I get to pick up what I like.
Gytri Narang, jewellery designer
