Orissa-based Jas Group has recently opened their first MBO format called “All That Jazz” on VIP Road, Puri. The company is already a master franchisee of Reebok and franchisee of Levis store in the state.
Built with an investment of Rs 2.5 crore and spread over 3,500 sq.ft., the new store has a basement car park covering an area of 2,000 sq.ft.
The store will stock international brands, in a shop-in-shop format, targeted at youth including Jack and Jones, CK, French Connection, Caterpillar, Sisley, Vero Moda, Only, Pieces, Nike, Puma, Levis, US Polo, and Benetton.
Talking about their debut retail venture, Shamsher Singh Hura, Director, Jas Group, said: “We felt, in India there is not even a single muti-brand international store which caters exclusively to youth, and there was a big void of international brands in so called B towns. The company firmly believed that retail needs to be taken to the next level, i.e., experiential retailing wherein you would want the consumer to spend more time in the store not to just shop, but to enjoy the shopping experience, to be able to relate to the ambience, to the music, to each and every element of the store. Hence, birth of All that jazz, India’s first multi-brand inernational boutique store exclusively targeted at youth which embeds lifestyle, sports, and fashion together.”
Further revealing the reason for choosing Puri as the first place for their debut store, Hura said that Puri is visited by an average 7.6 mn tourists comprising lot of foreign nationals as well. With a frontage of close to 100 feet in the high street, the economical rentals, and dearth of any shopping centre or brands, the company felt it to be ideal to start from Puri.
Speaking about the expansion plans, Hura said: “Work is in progress in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela, we plan to open stores in Cuttack, Ranchi, Patna, and Raipur, followed by Angul, Sambalpur, and Jharsuguda. The idea is to have 10 stores by 2013 and cross 100 crore! Once we achieve that critical mass and expertise we would franchise the concept pan India since we feel the brand mix embedded in the concept will differentiate us from any other offering in the market.”
Jas Group operates across different verticals such as retail, real estate, hospitality, education, and automobile.
-Shubhra Saini
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