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Zara closed its flagship store in South Mumbai’s Fort area on February 24 after eight years.
Zara closes its iconic Mumbai store after 8 years.
After eight years of operation, fashion brand Zara has reportedly closed its “iconic” flagship store in South Mumbai’s Fort area. According to reports, Zara officially closed its Mumbai flagship store on February 24. The 51,300-square-foot store was housed in the historic Ismail Building, a landmark in the Fort area.
The heritage Ismail building, which is 110 years old and located in the heart of South Mumbai, is being rented by Indian luxury brand Purple Style Labs at a monthly tenant payment of Rs 10 lakh per day, as reported by Hindustan Times citing Propstack.com.
The Indian brand is reported to take over the building at a lease for five years, totalling an amount of Rs 206 crore.
Purple Style Labs, founded by Abhishek Agarwal in 2015, retails high-end designer brands under Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop brand. The firm acquired Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop in 2018. It incubates young designer brands and helps them with sales, marketing, and technical support. According to the company’s website, it sells products of renowned labels such as Tarun Tahiliani, Falguni Shane Peacock, Amit Aggarwal, Gaurav Gupta, Seema Gujral, Abhinav Mishra, Shyamal & Bhumika.
In 2020, the company acquired Wendell Rodricks’s brand after the Goa-based designer suddenly passed away at 59.
According to Purple Style Labs’ official website, it currently has stores in several areas of Mumbai, such as Kemps Corner, Juhu, and Bandra.
PSL Retail Private Limited leases 51,300 sq ft of retail space
Purple Style Labs, a luxury fashion chain, has taken 51,300 sq ft of retail space on lease in the Ismail Building for five years. The monthly rent for the store is ₹3 crore, which translates to ₹36 crore annual rent for the first year, according to HT report citing Propstack.com.
The annual rent for the second year goes up to ₹39 crore, for the third year to ₹42 crore, for the fourth year to ₹43.8 crore, and for the fifth year to ₹45.6 crore, the documents show.
The deposit for the transaction is ₹18 crore, as shown in the documents as reported by HT in the report.
The transaction was registered on December 23, 2025, for which a stamp duty of over ₹53 lakh and registration fees of ₹1,000 were paid, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
Why Did Zara Close Its Largest Store in India?
The notice on the store’s door did not explain the closure, simply stating: “Please be informed that this Zara store will cease operations after the end of business on 23 February. We will continue to assist you at our Zara stores in Mumbai and at Zara.com/in.”
In 2017, Inditex Trent, the joint venture between Zara’s parent company Inditex SA and the Tata Group’s Trent, reportedly paid a hefty ₹30 crore annual rent for the flagship store, with a five-year lock-in period. At that time, it was the largest lease transaction for a fashion brand in India.
