Britain’s leading baby care retailer, Mothercare Plc, is eyeing India for its future growth. The company which operates in India through a joint venture with realty firm DLF, opened its first store in the country last year, also has a shop-in-shop arrangement with retail chain Shoppers Stop. It plans to expand its standalone and shop-in-shop stores to 200 by 2015 with most stores coming up in metros and big cities including Bangalore, Hyderabad , Chennai, Jaipur and Aurangabad.
“We are following the babies. In India, 70,000 babies are born everyday, compared with 50,000 in China. Although India accounts for only a small part of the company’s global business at present, its aspirational middle class will splurge more on baby care. We will turn profitable in India next year”, says Ben Gordon, CEO, Mothercare.
In order to de-risk its business in the UK and escape high rentals, the retailer is now moving some of its shops at high street locations to out of town locations. “We would go where our customers want us to. Although a large number of shops will come up in the malls, we do not mind setting up shops outside the malls if there’s a high demand,” Gordon said.
Mothercare, specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to 8 years old, currently operates close to 1,200 stores in 54 countries.
Posted on: 17.12.2010
Source: www.economictimes.com
