Broadway, Kochi

Broadway was the only shopping street in Ernakulam during early 20th century. Initially the shopping street was located at Mattancherry. When the British took over Cochin from the Dutch, the market moved out of Mattancherry to Kochi, which had everything from a safety pin to clothes and hardware on offer. Broadway had set of coveted tailors right from the start of 20th century. Prominent among those were J. Newfield and Company, which made the best three-piece suits at the time, Koya Hassan and the Bharatha Tailoring Company, which was famous for the uniforms it made for the State chauffeurs. The White Hall Silk Palace, set up in the 1920s by a Muslim trader from Palakkad, was a textile hotspot. Valavi and Company is a shop which started in 1899 on broadway street. They did business in paper, tyres and liquor imported from Europe.[1]

The road leading to broadway was one of the first macadam roads in Ernakulam and this is being quoted as the reason why it got its name 'Broadway'.

A street of Christmas star shops

Broadway Shopping street covers an area of two kilometer radius road which is sandwiched between Marine Drive, Kochi and MG Road. The area is characterized by narrow roads, quite ironically given its name. The market canal passes through Broadway and Market Road. The shopping street is a car-free pedestrian zone. Broadway adjoins Ernakulam Market where there are many wholesale shops as well.

At Broadway, one can find almost everything - ranging from old copper pots (ready to smelt) to latest fashion in clothing and jewellery, books, perfumes, spices.[2] One can even find one of the best furniture shops in town run by a Cochin Jew. Broadway has many roadside shops selling electronic goods, leather items, stationery, watches, jewelry and umbrellas. The Spice market of Kochi at Broadway street is a wholesale market where one can buy good quality spices and condiments.[3]

There are around 1,000 shops functioning in the two-km radius of Broadway. It is estimated that the market sees a footfall of minimum 5,000 people on holidays but the numbers would touch 20,000 on working days.[4] In 2016, sales at the Broadway market averaged 5 crore per month as per Broadway Shop Owners Association.[5]

In 2009, Centre for Heritage Environment and Development and the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project, had submitted a Rs. 30-crore-project for the conservation efforts of the Broadway.[6] Though the project was submitted in the first phase of JNNURM, it failed to take off due to cost escalation and flaws in the DPR. In 2013, a revised detailed project report (DPR) was submitted for funding under the JNNURM transition funding period. The estimated cost for the project was Rs. 25 cr[7]