Newme opens 18th store at Phoenix Marketcity Pune

Newme specialises in trendy affordable apparel for Gen Z and refreshes stock every few weeks under full design control. The Pune mall opening follows strong demand that earlier prompted a second store in the same city. Organised offline still accounts for about 70% of Indian apparel sales, the brand notes.

Mall floor staff report higher conversion and lower returns once shoppers can try fits, a concrete edge over pure app carts that clog reverse logistics. Average basket values rise when the store acts as a discovery point rather than just a fulfilment node.

Offline stores deliver higher conversion and lower returns than pure D2C carts.

The move squeezes slower traditional apparel chains in the same catchments while helping mall operators fill vacant fashion bays. Other D2C labels watching the playbook include those already leasing high-street space at rising rates.

Watch the pace toward the 30-store target before the next festive cluster and any seed-funding utilisation update. Further Tier-2 openings will show whether the model holds beyond early metros.