Spencer Plaza
Encyclopedia
| Spencer Plaza | |
| Spencer Plaza |
|
| Location: | Anna Salai, Chennai |
|---|---|
| established : | 1863 |
| Area: | 23,000 m2 (2,50,000 square feet) |
| Phases : | 3 |
Spencer Plaza, is a shopping mall located on Anna Salai
Anna Salai
Anna Salai , formerly known as Mount Road, an abbreviated form of St. Thomas Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George and ends at the Kathipara Junction in Guindy...
, and is one of the landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s of modern Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Reconstructed in 1985 on the site of a departmental store, it is the oldest shopping mall in India.
History
Spencer Plaza was built during the period of the British RajBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, when in the year 1863-1864, the first Departmental store in the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
(comprising India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
), was established by Charles Durant and J. W. Spencer in Anna Salai, then known Mount Road, in the Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
. After a few years, Eugene Oakshott shifted the department store to a new building, which was an example of Indian Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic
The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India...
style of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. The building was designed by W. N. Pogson. In the year 1985, the original building was destroyed in a fire. The present Spencer Plaza was constructed on the same site. This shopping mall is the major hangout for people of Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(Madras). The mall has been developed by Mangal Tirth Estate Limited.
It now comprises 3 phases, Phase I, Phase II and Phase III. Phase III is the most recently opened. The Plaza has a number of stores dealing goods of many major brands, as well as local brands. It also has retail shops of many of the leading brands in jewellery, merchandise, clothes etc.