With the expanding bouquet of luxury brands, Brandhouse Retail, the retailing arm of S Kumars Nationwide Ltd (SKNL), is planning to develop luxury high streets in Delhi and Mumbai. Also, to strengthen its mass retailing business, the company will open large-format, multi-brand discount stores.
“The company has major expansions ahead. For luxury brands business, the company is in advanced talks with 4-5 international brands, which will be introduced soon. We are also planning to open large-format, multi-brand outlets, which will be along the discount-store format,” Tarun Joshi, managing director, Brandhouse Retail, told Indiaretailing.
Asked about the retail presence for luxury brands, Joshi said: “We shall be opening at retail destinations that provide an apt environment to sell luxury. For instance, another Dunhill outlet will be opening at Emporio mall, Delhi, which is a luxury mall. Escada too will have similar positioning along with other luxury brands that are expected to be launched shortly. However, there are very less luxury retailing destinations in the country, and so, we are also considering developing luxury high streets in Delhi and Mumbai.”
Talking about the discount-format MBOs and private labels, Joshi elaborated, “We are looking to develop MBOs that will sell apparel and accessories on discounts. The company is in talks with various brands that we may stock in these MBOs. Though still at a nascent stage, we are also looking at manufacturing a private label that will be sold in these outlets.”
The company is working towards a total of 400 outlets across all formats, by end of this fiscal.
Revealing investment plans, Joshi said that by FY 2009-10, the company is targeting a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, and will invest around Rs 400 crore in the same period.
At present, Brandhouse Retail manages around 260 exclusive brand outlets of Reid & Taylor, Carmichael House, Belmonte, Stephens Brothers, Dunhill and Escada.
– Ranjan Kaplish
