Established in 2021, Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru sits within an integrated urban township and operates as a neighbourhood mall that does things differently. The focus is firmly on experience-led retail — a space that blends everyday shopping with a carefully curated mix of dining and entertainment, from cricket match screenings and concerts to hip-hop face-offs, offering something for the young while bringing the whole family together.

Retail4Growth spoke with Rama Raju, Senior Vice President – Retail, Bhartiya Urban about the thinking behind the mall's tenant mix, the activations that keep visitors coming back, and why the neighbourhood centre is fast emerging as the defining format in India's retail landscape.

Can you tell us about the tenant mix at Bhartiya Mall, and how different it is from the others?

Right from the start, we were clear that Phoenix Mall of Asia was coming, and we already had RMZ Galleria, Yelahanka, hence we believed that going head-on with another competing centre didn't make sense. Being 45 minutes from one of the most prominent malls in Bengaluru, we needed to be a bit different. So we started benchmarking and looking at what was not around here. Entertainment and food were clearly missing.

We asked ourselves: how do we stand apart? In a typical mall, there's a café on the ground floor, a food court on the second or third floor, and restaurants on top. We decided to break that clutter. We spread F&B across every level and rather than separating cuisines, we mixed them deliberately, while making sure no single cuisine cannibalises another.

The next pillar was entertainment. We have a dedicated space adjacent to the retail building set aside entirely for events — concerts, family activities, community programmes. That gives us a significant advantage. So, I'm not trying to cap myself to a 30-minute catchment. People come from Electronic City and Sarjapur specifically for the concerts and events. As a result, my immediate residential catchment contributes only about 20–25% of footfall.

As for the brands we house, we haven't gone premium or luxury. The positioning is bridge-to-lifestyle — daily needs, daily necessities, with aspirational brands suited to this catchment.

Adding to all this, we are the only retail centre in this area with a diagnostic centre and a dentist. We have two full-fledged banks - HDFC and ICICI - both with locker facilities. We also offer helmet lockers, general storage lockers, and helmet sanitisers. These are the small touch points that add up to a distinct experience. 

What kind of initiatives and activations held at the mall bring measurable impact to you & your tenants?

 Today, it’s very important for me to have interactive and marketing activities every weekend to drive footfalls and engage with customers. This ranges from a fashion show where I have customers walk the ramp, or the postal week campaign for kids to learn about stamps along with a letter-writing workshop, which is highly engaging and increases dwell time. Normally, the average dwell time in a mall is about 1.5 to 2 hours. We are always trying to push this to another 30 or 45 minutes.

We try to create an ecosystem where customers feel comfortable, and this helps us a lot.

In the evenings, we do movie screenings, which is something nobody else does. It's an outdoor setup where you can just sit back and watch. When there's a cricket match, it feels like a stadium. We have a 50-foot screen. These are the kind of experiential differences we offer.

We're also pet-friendly, which is a big thing now. While pets aren't allowed inside the mall, the outdoor areas are very much open to them. In the evenings, many visitors along with their pets relax on the garden lawn. We also host specific pet events like dog-a-thons, and we have Heads Up for Tails, a premium pet care brand, offering grooming and more.

Then there's the Saree Run done collaboratively with Shobitam, our saree partner, where the second edition had 800 to 900 women show up at 6 a.m. and run. We also hosted a women's bike riders event with over 150 women on bikes. I've never seen anything like it.

What are the top criteria for a brand to be housed in Bhartiya Mall?

The most important factor for me is the affordability of my catchment area. I hunt for brands, and I go to them. I'm not in a hurry to lease out space. To be frank, we're at 91% occupancy right now, as I only want brands that make sense for the mix and positioning of this centre. For example, bringing in a premium luxury brand here doesn't make sense. It is not because people can't afford it, but because the catchment isn't positioned that way. To give you a sense of the market: residential prices here are around ₹11,500–12,000 per square foot, which is very premium.

What are the big challenges you face with brands coming into the mall?

When retailers come in, I always tell them to keep an open store format, as it draws people in. And we are glad that many are moving away from the glass frontage now. The next thing I push for is to avoid cluttering the space. Give people room to breathe, to spend time. And then I recommend brands to incorporate digital signage and walls generously. Movement attracts people. The problem is, not everyone invests adequately. They put up small panels when they could do so much more. If you look at other Asian countries, the scale of digital screens in their retail environments is remarkable.

What is Bhartiya Mall doing in terms of newer and D2C brands?

When we opened in 2021–22, the fashion landscape was very different. From 2023–24, things shifted. COVID pushed a lot of people online, and there was a narrative that offline retail was on its way out. But online players eventually realised they needed a physical presence to grow.We didn't want to miss that opportunity. Today, nearly every major online brand that has made the move offline is present with us, including Snitch, The Bear House, MyDesignation, The Soul Store, The Indian Garage Co among others. They are doing very well here.

At the same time, we haven't let the traditional brands fade out. There's still a loyal customer base for them. We continue to have Louis Philippe, Peter England, and others, because that segment still has life and vibrancy.

What's next for Bhartiya Mall?

We are now stepping into our third churning, where the focus going forward is on two things. First, increase our offering for homes. This catchment has a lot of new homeowners, so catering to home requirements is something we've identified as a clear gap and opportunity. Second, we want to move one notch up on fashion — slightly more premium, while staying true to our positioning.

How do you see the neighbourhood mall concept growing across the country?

For a mall to be comfortable, good, and sustainable, you have to be realistic about scale. The sweet spot is between 3.5 to 6 lakh square feet. That's where you can accommodate 150 to 200 brands comfortably.

Neighbourhood centres are popping up everywhere right now, and the reason is simple — convenience for the existing catchment. And that catchment only keeps growing. At Bhartiya, we've positioned ourselves as a neighbourhood centre, and that's a position no other centre nearby can replicate, because they cater to different offerings in different locations.

Mixed-use development is what every builder is looking at today, because it needs to be self-sustaining.