Top executives of Landmark Group revealed its success mantra in India at the 22nd India Fashion Forum in Bangalore
Bengaluru: The top officers of Landmark Group said its success in India lies in the company’s understanding of deep-rooting in consumers to focusing on product development and employee value.
Devarajan Iyer, executive director of Lifestyle International, and Shital Mehta, managing director of Lifestyle International spoke about the Dubai-based retail group’s 24-year journey in India
Both the top executives at Landmark Group were at the 22nd edition of India Fashion Forum (IFF), India’s largest and most influential fashion retail intelligence event is being held at Conrad Bengaluru on 28 February 2023 and 1 March 2023. The event is chaired by Shailesh Chaturvedi, chief executive officer of Aravind Fashions Ltd, and powered by GreenHonchos. The theme of IFF 2023 will be decoding DNA of profitable growth, defined by value creation.
“The event will cut through topline naivete and focus on real metrics that matter including building operational capabilities for consistent high-quality execution, creating wealth through profitability and focus on return on capital employed. Creation and retention of talent will be key for nurturing this DNA to profitability,” said Chaturvedi earlier said while setting the tone of the two-day event in Bengaluru.
Pankaj Jaju, chief executive officer of Meta Capital Advisors, in a fireside chat on the Landmark Group’s multi-billion dollar journey, spoke to Iyer, executive director of Lifestyle International, and Mehta, managing director of Lifestyle International.
“Entire brand is deep-rooted in consumers,” said Iyer. “We focus on a single decision and once a decision is made, eventhough the idea is too soon in the industry, we stick to it, believe in it, and make it applicable to all brands inside the company ”
While speaking about the company’s business journey Mehta said: “Our core belief is that sanity is more important than vanity and our company is about ground point and power point,” The brand has always managed to concentrate deeply on each brand and keep a balance between the balance sheet and cash flow, he said.
Lifestyle International has successfully managed to maintain employee growth within the organization, with several moving up the ranks from a customer service representative to holding management roles in the company. “Employees are our owners,” Mehta said. Providing better work-life balance, a wider array of benefits, and ensuring the safety of every employee are fundamental touchpoints for the company.
“The brand follows a grounded process, neither glamorous nor flamboyant” replied Iyer to a comment by Jaju regarding the boring long-term strategy of the company.
“We focus on the middle and matrix, rather than the top and bottom of the retail industry,” added Mehta. Instead of running behind trends, the company centralizes on long-term goals. “Your vendors are exclusive to you. Founder of Landmark Group, the parent organization of Lifestyle International said 4 decades ago to make sure we give our employees, value, freedom, and accountability. Thus we are a dead-free company, and all vendors are taken care of and paid on time.”
Landmark Group’s success secret is its unity. “The DNA of the organization is product development. Not only buyers and other supply chain members, everyone at the company is involved in it including board members,” added Iyer.
