5 Interactive Retail Spaces

Shopping isn’t just about buying things anymore; it’s about the experience. Today’s coolest retail spaces are blurring the lines between store, studio, and gallery. From concept boutiques built around art installations to heritage spaces that house both fashion and cafés, these spots invite you to come in and hang out. To leisurely walk around and soak in the creativity. Here are five interactive retail destinations across India that are turning everyday shopping into something a lil magical.

Unconventional, Kolkata 
At Unconventional in Kolkata’s Alipore district, the store’s centerpiece is a massive metallic sphere that forces visitors to navigate around it. Walking into this mother-son–founded concept store feels like a sculptural installation: curved walls, floating display tables and ripple-effect ceilings break all the usual retail rules. They often have cute little events around fashion and pop culture that brings the space a different flavor. In short, Unconventional is less a plain boutique and more an edgy art-meets-fashion playground that keeps you curious.

Nilaya Anthology, Mumbai 
Nilaya Anthology in Mumbai is a massive immersive showroom by Asian Paints. Spanning a former mill’s 100,000 sq. ft., it’s been called ‘India’s newest design landmark’. But it’s much more than a hardware store, think part-boutique, part-art gallery, part co-working café. Plush interiors and curated exhibits make shopping feel cinematic: you might browse a silk sari as if it’s art or discover a vintage armchair on display. Nilaya Anthology blurs the line between retail and cultural experience, elevating shopping into something deeply personal.

General Items, Bengaluru 
Bangalore’s General Items is what happens when a corner store gets a creative makeover. Housed in an old school supplies shop, the founders even kept the faded hand-painted sign – ‘selling student notebooks and other general items’ – as a nod to its past. Inside, concrete walls and warm wood shelves showcase homewares, ceramics and cheeky books from Indian designers like Claymen, Lovebirds and Tosha Jagad. As the owners put it, ‘It’s not high street… but it has a soul’. This cozy gallery-shop hybrid celebrates ‘material memory’: every object is thoughtfully chosen to spark joy, and the store even hosts events, weekend walks around the city and workshops so you can chat with artists and makers as you shop.

Amethyst, Chennai 
Tucked into a restored colonial bungalow, Amethyst is a boutique, café and flower shop rolled into one lush hideaway. The brainchild of Kiran Rao, it’s an oasis of art, fashion and food. Inside the leafy Wild Garden café you can sip coffee amid century-old architecture, then browse the carefully curated clothing, jewelry and homewares next door. In other words, Amethyst turns shopping into a slow, sensory experience, everything from the outfits to the orchids feels like part of a story. 

One Zero Eight, Kochi 
In Kochi, One Zero Eight by Save The Loom occupies a centuries-old Portuguese villa to spotlight India’s handwoven heritage. Born from a pop-up for flood-affected weavers, the store pays tribute to 700 artisans, even using old loom wood in its decor. Each cozy room on the two floors is a mini-gallery of brands like Suket Dhir, Pero and 11.11, where you can browse handloom sarees, kurtas, bags and more. The villa courtyard is transformed into a garden café, so you can take a break amid the sunshine. By hosting art and craft pop-ups and focusing on local design, One Zero Eight blends retail with a cultural mission, it’s a shop, a gallery, and a community space all in one.

Words Harita Odedra 
Date 29-07-2025