Monte Carlo to expand retail footprint; seeks franchisees

Monte Carlo, the premium garment brand from the stable of Oswal Woollen Mills (OWM), has announced plans to expand its retail footprint across India. Monte Carlo currently manages 130 EBOS and is also available in around 1,000 MBOs, now plans to open 40 more EBOs, to take the EBO count strength to 170 by the end of fiscal 2011-12. Monte Carlo which has been growing at a stupendous growth rate of 50 per cent plans to increase the store count through a mix of company owned and franchise outlets.

Swapan Dutta, president – retail, OWM, said, “Seeing the performance of the existing stores and the kind of growth we have witnessed over the last four years, has given us the confidence to go for expansion.

“Despite a period of general recession all around, we have been clocking very good growth. We have set up stores in the southern part of country where our sales are not as strong as in north. We will now move towards Hyderabad. We have a flagship store in Kolkata. We have already signed around 12 properties all across,” he further added.

ITC tries new retail formats; seeks franchisees for store expansion

Diversified business group ITC Ltd is experimenting with new formats to drive growth of its apparel retail chain Wills Lifestyle. The company is opening up specialty stores such as ‘menswear only´ and ‘boutique stores´ to offer more premium range, apart from expanding its retail reach with plans to set up around 25 new stores across India in the next 15 months. It is also focusing on having more franchise operated stores to penetrate into markets beyond the big cities.

“We are increasingly experimenting with new specialty formats. For instance, recently the company has launched a store in Chennai to sell only menswear,” ITC Lifestyle Retailing chief executive Atul Chand said.

He said the company plans to scale up the new format but did not provide details such as the number of such stores and the timeline for opening them.

“We have also set up high-end boutique stores to target luxury consumers at five-star hotels. These stores have different products assortment and cater to higher-end consumers,” Chand said. Currently, the firm operates three such stores in the group’s hotels and two more are likely to to come up soon.

At present, of the total 75 stores operating in about 40 cities, only 15 stores are under franchise model. “In the next 15 months we plan to open 25 new stores across India and about 15 of those outlets will be franchisee -run. So clearly our focus on franchise-model is increasing,” he said.

In the current fiscal, ITC is targeting about 30 per cent growth in sales for its lifestyle retail business compared to 2010. He, however did not disclose revenue, profitability and investment details.

Within the stores also, the company is introducing new concepts such as designer labels. “Currently 15 per cent of our total sales come from designer range. We have tie-ups with ten leading designers in the country who create exclusive range of clothes for our stores,” Chand said.

Gold Souk inks franchise pact with Wyndham Hotel

Leading real estate developer Aerens Gold Souk International Ltd (AGIL) is venturing into the Indian hospitality sector through a strategic alliance with US-based hospitality giant Wyndham Hotel Group. The company has signed a franchise agreement to build four hotels -- one each in Kochi, Chennai, Ludhiana and Hisar under Wyndham Hotel Group’s Ramada brand. It further plans to set up four to six more hotels in Karnal, Doraha, Jagadhari and Ambala under Ramada’s brand.

Amit Gupta, vice chairman and managing director, Aerens Gold Souk International Ltd, said: “We are delighted to partner with Wyndham Hotel Group for our expansion into the hospitality sector. This strategic alliance is a major step in the overall Aerens Gold Souk International Ltd. strategy of creating a Pan-India presence and strengthening our position in the hospitality sector in the next five years.”

Elaborating further, Subhash Verma, CEO, Aerens Gold Souk International, added: “The Ramada brand has a loyal following across the globe and will appeal to international business and leisure visitors, the expatriate community, as well as Indian businessmen and professionals.”

Ken Greene, Wyndham Hotel Group president and managing director, Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted to be working with renowned real estate company, Aerens Gold Souk International for the first time on these four exciting projects. We are confident that this will be a successful partnership in bringing great quality, great value accommodation to the growing Indian hospitality market.”

Pavers England aims to open 500 outlets; seeks franchisees

English premium footwear brand Pavers England has set a target of 100 per cent annual growth rate for the next three years. The company will invest $15 million during the next three years in India to widen its retail network to 500 points of sale (PoS). The company is seeking potential franchisee partners to expand its footprint. At present, Pavers England footwear is retailed through 10 exclusive franchise outlets and 60 multibrand outlets (MBO), including Reliance Footprint, Shoppers Stop and Central.

The footwear company, which started its operation in India in 2008, also wishes to increase its global procurement from India by more than 50 per cent. “Our target is to grow annually by 100 per cent for the next three years and touch an annual turnover of Rs 240 crore. Last financial year we grew by 115 per cent. The growth can be achieved by increasing the points of sale from 70 to 500 by 2015,” said Utsav Seth, CEO and MD of Pavers England.

Either in the form of exclusive stores or MBOs, the PoS will touch 500 by 2015, he said. “We’ll invest $15 million over the next three years, 60 per cent of which will be spent on stocks and the rest on increasing warehousing facilities and training retail staff. Around $3 million will go into the R&D centre we’d set up while entering the market,” he said.

The R&D centre is one among the six such centres the $200 million parent company owns worldwide. The Indian subsidiary not only designs footwear for the parent company, but also procures around one million pair from the country for global consumption.

"This could go up to 1.5 million or 1.7 million pairs, but India has to become cost competitive compared to countries like Vietnam. Lately, the procurement from Agra has been going up compared to that from Tamil Nadu," said Seth.

Nautica opens 3rd store in Delhi via franchise route

Apr 05, 2011

Nautica, the premium apparel and accessories brand for men, has opened an exclusive franchise showroom in Delhi. This is the brand’s third store in the country. The other two are located at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon and Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. Located at Pacific Mall, Rajouri Garden, the 893 sq ft store is currently showcasing Nautica's latest Spring 2011 collection.

Nautica is brought into India by Planet Retail Holdings Pvt Ltd. Some of the other premium international brands brought into India, by Planet Retail include Accessorize, Guess, Next, Debenhams and the latest to join the bandwagon is the homegrown brand Lavie – a handbags brand for fashion-conscious women.