Karnaphuli Garden City Shopping Complex in Dhaka’s Shantinagar has shut for good after years of mounting losses.
Once counted among the capital’s upscale malls, it buckled under thinning crowds, unpaid service charges and an electricity bill of about Tk 5 million.
Traders said on Sunday that the mall at the Shantinagar-Kakrail intersection slipped commercially for several reasons before the shop owners’ association declared it closed on Oct 1.
They trace the decline over the past decade to four main causes: customers drifting away during Shantinagar flyover construction, the COVID-19 slump, the departure of good traders and fraud by a few dishonest sellers.
The shopping complex occupies the ground to third floors of a 20-storey building, with residential apartments above.
Opened in 1998, the mall housed clothing, footwear, cosmetics and gift shops and several brand showrooms, plus a food court and garden on the fourth floor.
It had 198 shops at the start, but only 20 to 25 were still trading when the closure was announced, traders said.
Falling footfall, unpaid service charges and the overdue electricity bill pushed the management into continuous losses, and the owners’ association collectively decided to shut the whole market.
The main gate’s shutter was down at noon on Sunday, with a banner above it reading: “The shopping complex will remain closed from 1/10/2026.”
A few food outlets, including Kacchi Dine and Hotcake on the left of the main gate, and the clothing brand Raymond and Mezbaan Dine on the right, remain open.
Watch retailer Ekkochi ran its business from the ground floor from 2017, relying mostly on online customers after shoppers stopped turning up. It has since moved to Capital Siraj Centre on Baily Road.
Md Shafiul, who looks after Ekkochi, told bdnews24.com: “The market has been sold. A party is buying it. They may turn it into a hospital or something else, but not a market.”
“We are selling it. All the owners are deciding together,” Association President AKM Iqbal said. “It could be a hospital, a diagnostic centre, a TV centre or any other office.”
General Secretary Bakibillah Osmani (Anondo Shah) said on the dues: “Service charges weren’t coming in and the electricity bill is about Tk 5 million overdue. That’s why all the owners took a joint decision to keep the market shut.”
Some shops at the gate have been kept open to cover wages for the guards and a manager, he said. “We are keeping just these few shops open, even by borrowing, so that their salaries can be paid.”
The flats above are entirely separate and not covered by the closure, market authorities said.
Karnaphuli Group, which developed the complex, sold most of the shops into private ownership long ago.
Bakibillah said talks are under way with several commercial entities, including hospitals, corporate firms and banks, about using the building. “Nothing is final with anyone. No agreement has been signed.”
Four Factors Behind the ‘Decline’
Traders at the complex say the market has been sliding for about a decade.
Shafiul said the mall had no customers and was “completely down”. “We ran on online customers. Bit by bit, over nearly 10 years, this market has fallen apart.”
Other traders said prolonged road closures and repair work during flyover construction kept shoppers away. Good traders moved to other markets and never returned.
The long COVID-19 lockdown then hit business hard and drove out the remaining good traders.
Some dishonest tenants meanwhile sold low-quality goods from Zinjira and Chawkbazar as imported items, and upscale, loyal customers turned their backs on the market.
The rise of e-commerce and Facebook shopping, and competition from giants such as Bashundhara City and Jamuna Future Park, proved too much for the small mall.
“People stopped coming in during the flyover construction and repairs,” Bakibillah said.
“Some good traders left, thinking it was temporary until the roads were fixed. But they never came back. The same happened during COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is the internet age. We order everything from home, from shoes to a baby’s cap. Big supermarkets like Bashundhara and Jamuna have more shops than I do. A customer who finds a shirt here can’t find trousers, so they don’t come in.”
He also conceded that some sellers’ conduct drove customers away.
“A few dishonest traders brought goods from Zinzira and Chawkbazar but claimed they came from Dubai. Premium, trusted customers drifted away because of that,” he said.