The October D2C Funding Wave Wants Nearly 300 New Stores. Where in Bangalore Should They Go?

Quick answer: Start where fashion demand is deep but D2C peers are thin. As of 28 Oct 2026, Lokazen counts 7,464 active apparel, footwear and eyewear outlets in Bangalore, yet only 97 stores from 15 digital-first fashion brands. Jayanagar has 199 fashion outlets and one such peer; Rajajinagar, Malleshwaram and Basavanagudi high streets have none.

How many new stores is the October 2026 D2C funding wave planning?

Nearly 300 across India, from three brands alone. Each has said where the money goes, and it is physical retail.

That is about 285 new doors: 150 from DailyObjects, 125 from The Pant Project and 10 from Comet. DailyObjects told BusinessLine it runs 18 stores today and already sells through close to 350 retail touchpoints, including Apple Premium Reseller outlets. Comet opened its largest store, 2,500 sq ft over two floors, in Jayanagar 3rd Block on 11th Main (India Retailing, Sep 2026). For the wider shift from apps to stores, read our D2C offline expansion analysis; this post covers where in Bangalore these doors should go.

How big is Bangalore's fashion retail base?

Lokazen's census counts 7,464 active fashion outlets: 5,491 apparel, 1,399 footwear and 562 eyewear stores, run by 5,055 brands and independents. Only 749 of them (10.0%) sit inside malls. Bangalore fashion is mostly a high-street business.

South Bangalore holds 40.7% of zone-tagged fashion outlets, nearly as many as East and North combined. For space and frontage benchmarks by format, see our apparel and footwear retail space guide and the eyewear retail space guide.

Where do D2C fashion brands already have stores in Bangalore?

In a few familiar places. We tracked 97 active stores from 15 digital-first fashion and lifestyle brands. 30 of them (30.9%) are in malls, three times the 10.0% mall share of fashion overall. They also hug the metro: 32 of the 68 with a measured distance (47.1%) sit within 1 km of a station, against 34.3% for all fashion.

Lenskart, the oldest omnichannel name in the set, runs 154 eyewear stores on its own and is counted separately. The clusters are predictable:

Indiranagar has 6 D2C peer stores from 6 different brands on 61 fashion outlets. Orion Mall, Phoenix Marketcity Whitefield and Church Street follow. A new D2C store there competes with its own online audience's favourite brands on the same street.

Which Bangalore localities have fashion demand but few D2C stores?

The South and West high streets. These localities already draw fashion shoppers in volume, yet our census shows one or zero D2C peer stores in each.

• Jayanagar is the standout. 199 fashion outlets, the most of any locality, 185 of them within 1 km of a metro station, and one D2C peer. Comet's choice of 11th Main for its biggest store fits that gap.
• West Bangalore is open. Rajajinagar (113), Malleshwaram (67) and Basavanagudi (69) have no D2C peer stores on their high streets, and most of their fashion outlets are near the metro.
• Footwear clusters exist. Jayanagar (63), Marathahalli (34), Banashankari (24) and Rajajinagar (22) hold the deepest footwear rows outside malls.

Our white-space expansion method explains how to test a gap before you sign.

Which format fits each of these brands?

Mall versus street is the first call. Our high street vs mall scorecard compares the trade-offs. Brands can see how Lokazen matches brands to space and get five scored options for a brief.

What should property owners on these high streets do?

D2C brands opening a first or second Bangalore store want ground-floor frontage, a clean shell and room for a trial area. Comet's Jayanagar store runs to 2,500 sq ft over two floors. Owners with ground-floor units up to about 2,500 sq ft on Jayanagar, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar or Basavanagudi main roads are in the pockets this wave should reach. Lokazen's rent records date from April 2026, so we do not quote a current rent; see our area-wise commercial rent guide for dated benchmarks and our Diwali 2026 store category analysis for how fashion is trading this season.

Own a ground-floor unit on a fashion street? List it free on Lokazen with frontage, floor and carpet area.

Sources and scope

News: Inc42, 8 Oct 2026 (DailyObjects); BusinessLine, 8 Oct 2026 (DailyObjects store count); BusinessLine, 19 Oct 2026 (The Pant Project); ETBrandEquity, Sep 2026 (Comet Series B); India Retailing, Sep 2026 (Comet Jayanagar). Store plans belong to the brands as reported. Lokazen outlet counts are active rows in our Bangalore brand outlet census as of 28 Oct 2026: Apparel, Footwear and Eyewear categories and their sub-types. D2C peer stores are the active outlets of SNITCH, Rare Rabbit, Libas, Mokobara, Wrogn, Bewakoof, The Souled Store, Nicobar, Bombay Shirt Company, Blissclub, Neemans, Suta, The Pant Project, Newme and Virgio. Zone tags cover 6,302 of 7,464 fashion outlets; locality names follow our census. Metro distance is to the nearest operating station.

Work with Lokazen

Brands pay; owners list free. Bring a format brief and Lokazen returns five scored matches from verified inventory and location intelligence. Start your brand search, or list a commercial unit free on lokazen.in.