High streets are getting footfall back

India’s shopping streets are pulling retail demand back from malls, with 4.3 million square feet leased across the top seven cities in the second half of 2025. (cnbctv18.com) ANAROCK Retail said high streets outperformed malls in that July-to-December period, while Delhi National Capital Region and Hyderabad accounted for nearly 70% of the future supply pipeline. Units sized 1,000 to 5,000 square feet made up most transactions. (cnbctv18.com) JLL put the wider 2025 market at 12.5 million square feet of gross leasing, up 54% year on year, with high streets taking a 48% share and malls 45%. Delhi National Capital Region and Bengaluru each took 24% of annual leasing, with Hyderabad close behind at 23%. (jll.com) The tenant mix shows what is filling those spaces. ANAROCK said apparel led leasing in the second half, followed by entertainment, hypermarkets and supermarkets, and food and beverages. (cnbctv18.com) CBRE described the same shift in different terms, saying retailers pushed experiential flagship stores, kiosks, and Generation Z-focused formats in 2025 to raise visits, dwell time, and brand engagement. Its report said food and beverage operators also expanded on high streets to capture round-the-clock visibility and build standalone identities. (cbre.co.in) That helps explain why street retail is gaining ground even as malls keep adding supply. CBRE said India absorbed about 8.9 million square feet of retail space in 2025 and added more than 4 million square feet of new supply, including about 2.1 million square feet of investment-grade mall space in the second half alone. (cbre.co.in) The rebound is uneven by city. ANAROCK said Delhi National Capital Region and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region were strong in apparel and entertainment, while Hyderabad and Bengaluru drew more hypermarkets and family entertainment centres, and Chennai leaned toward apparel and jewellery. (cnbctv18.com) Domestic brands are a big part of the story. JLL said more than 10 million square feet of retail space leased in 2025 came from Indian retailers, driven by direct-to-consumer brands moving offline alongside fast fashion and food and beverage chains. (jll.com) Malls are not disappearing from the market. JLL said premium mall stock in the top seven cities stood at nearly 92 million square feet at the end of 2025, and malls still captured 45% of annual leasing as new institutional-grade space opened in major cities. (jll.com) What changed is where retailers think footfall can be converted into sales. In 2025, more brands leased street-facing stores that offered visibility, food, entertainment, and neighborhood access, while malls remained the other large-format option rather than the default one. (jll.com)