Main Shopping Areas in Bangalore
Aside from the large shopping malls as earlier mentioned, some alternative but popular shopping areas are:
Brigade Road
Brigade Road is a beehive of commercial activity. It is the undisputed choice of the majority of youngsters in Bangalore, and it not only offers great shopping avenues but also provides large scope for entertainment. From electronic equipment, garments, utensils, music to shoes, you can get just about anything here. The beauty of Brigade Road lies in the fact that it has something in store for everyone. It has Rex, the best movie theatre in the city. It has a Cyber cafe, bowling alley, discotheques, video game parlours, and great restaurants, department stores, branded clothing showrooms like Lee, Van Heusen, Nike, Adidas, Allen Solly and Louis Philippe. Also, worth exploring are the malls like Fifth Avenue and Mota Royal Arcade.
Mahatma Gandhi Road (M.G. Road)
M.G. Road is just next to Brigade Road and is the heart of Bangalore. This street was known as the South Parade during the British rule. You can get everything here from books and magazines, textiles, antiques, general goods to electronic and photography supplies. Natesan’s Antiquarts, Barton Centre, Shrungar, the Coir Board showroom, Big Kids Kemp, Saree Kemp, and Nalli Silks, are some of the stores you should not miss. Raymond’s and Cotton World are two other popular clothing stores in this area. Popular bookshops Gangaram and Higgin Botham are also located here. Plenty of mid-range to high-end restaurants are located just off the main road, allowing for a perfect lunch or dinner spot after a long day cruising the shops. If books are of great interest to you, also be sure to check out Blossoms just off MG Road on Church St.
Commercial Street
This area differs from Brigade Road as it is strictly meant for shopping on a budget. That said, several brand name shops are slowly popping up here too on the main road. Here you can walk through shops and stores that sell a variety of products like clothes, jewelery, fabrics, shoes, accessories, art supplies, stationery, sports goods, travel accessories, and gift items. This area also has some popular restaurants like Woody’s (famous for ‘masala dosa’), Café Coffee Day (Indian coffee chain), Natural’s and the cake shop of the Taj.
Residency Road
Here, you can find handicrafts and furniture in abundance as the Government Handicrafts Emporia are located on this road. Visit Gangotri, Gurjari, Utkalika and Mriganayani for exquisite brassware, wooden furniture, jewelery.
Some of the other famous commercial areas are Richard Square in Russell Market (for cutlery, crockery and household items) Arcot Srinivaschari Street (for brass, silver and copperware), Chickpet (for Silk Sarees), and B.V.K. Iyengar Road (for plywood, paper and electrical goods.
Shivajinagar
If you’re after antiques, new and old furniture (often made in the backroom), kitchenware or a general shopping circus, Shivajinagar can be an exciting shopping experience. This area, just 1.5 km north of the M.G. Road shopping district, is composed of several winding narrow lanes, each store spilling out with their budget wares. Few reliable restaurants exist in this area and, since it’s quite dense, a couple of hours of roaming is generally enough of a shopping excursion here.
