South Asia's largest single-owner shopping-mall

The largest single-owner Fashion Complex in South Asia ....
House of Fashion, Borella

     "House of Fashion", a most popular readymade garment shopping complex in Sri Lanka was opened at its new location in the city of Borella by Hon.President Mahinda Rajapaksha yesterday. House of Fashion which has brought pride to Sri Lanka as the garment outlet in South Asia owned by a single owner as the largest of its kind in the country belongs to businessman Mr. Preethi Jayawardena. Mr. Jayawardena was a sailor by occupation and he left his occupation and started a shop for the first time in a small of piece of land with an extent of 400 square metres in Plaza, Wellawatta in the year 1992. The co-operation rendered by his wife Neela Jayawardena, a teacher by profession has also been very helpful to develop the business.

   Mrs. Jayawardena was a Science graduate and was a school teacher engaged in teaching Zoology and Botany. The couple had got together and had developed the business in Sri Lanka with the aim of providing readymade garments at the lowest price to customers making available the latest in fashions and later shifted the shop to a five-storied building in 1999 in Duplication Road.

  House of Fashion was a location for locals as well as foreigners including tourists to experience an ideal shopping experience. Because of the excessive demand from customers, it had to be shifted to a more spacious building of 9 stories.

  Sometime back there was a stock-closing sale at the earlier location where House of Fashion was housed and this sale was scheduled to be completed by night on the 3rd. However, because of the large number of customers, it was not possible to close the shop for the day. Anyhow around 9 that night, House of Fashion proprietor Mr. Preethi Jayawardena arrived at a decision and announced: "I want to finish the stock of garments today ... so I don't want people to wait in queues to pay their money. I am going to give all these to the people here ... free. Anybody who wants can lay his hands on any item and take it away". With this permission, Preethi and Neela were watching gleefully how the large crowd there start to empty the shop and go away.

  This couple spoke of the suffering they underwent incessantly and how they had to keep on falling and then stand up once again, competing with others, facing various obstacles of competitive shops as well as other reasons and that they are happy now. That moment on that particular day when they closed up the shop in Duplication Road, they had appeared for group photographs with the employees and they were seen with tears welling in their eyes for having had to leave their location where they were used to for 14 long years.

  The newly-opened House of Fashion is located in the land where the former Colletes building stood, along Senanayaka Road in Borella. The car park for House of Fashion is able to house 350 vehicles.