Nothing Store Bengaluru makes a splash in India's tech city

Nothing Store Bengaluru, India

(Image credit: Nothing)

The idea that a dedicated mobile store needs to be a sleek temple of minimalism or a blinking cavalcade of streaming media has been kicked to the curb by Nothing. The self-consciously iconoclastic London-based phone brand has opened its first store in India, picking the country’s tech capital, Bengaluru, as the best place to showcase its wares.

Nothing Store Bengaluru is arranged across two floors in a building on 100 Feet Road, in the heart of the city’s Indiranagar district. The company describes the 5,000 sq ft store as being inspired by ‘1970s factory assembly lines and workshops’, with a combination of industrial-grade furniture and fixtures, bold pop colours – especially Nothing’s signature red – set against the raw concrete interior of the building.

There’ s another element that sets the Bengaluru store apart from a conventional phone shop, which is a space for customers to personalise their own Nothing products – a big draw for a cult brand that already has a winning line in developing community editions with its burgeoning fanbase.

Another section of the space is given over to a studio, where content creators can record unboxings and other contemporary aspects of the tech-consumer eco-system. It’s also intended as a community ‘hangout zone’, with seating areas and a scattering of displays and even claw games to encourage people to stick about. Cultural and community activities will also be taking place in the store.

A coffee shop is another draw, further helping the brand get in sync with Bengaluru’s burgeoning creator community. All this will be available alongside the latest Nothing products – which include the upcoming Nothing Phone (4a) – as well as merchandise and products from the sub-brand CMF.

Other design elements tap into the bustling Indiranagar streetscape, such as the illuminated façade signage, red lighting and prominent insect sculptures inspired by the brand’s recent commercial imagery. It’s an appropriate spot for the brand’s first Indian outpost and only its second store after the original London store in Soho, which opened in 2022.

Future openings will see Nothing expand its retail presence in New York and Japan, all part of an aggressive expansion programme as the design-led company transitions from idiosyncratic small player into a serious contender in the crowded personal tech space.

Nothing Store Bengaluru, 660/1, 100 Feet Road, 1st Stage, Indiranagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560038 India, Nothing.Tech, @Nothing, @CMF.Tech

Nothing

Nothing Phone (3)

CMF

CMF Headphone Pro

Nothing

Nothing Ear (3)

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Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.