Arvind Retail Ltd, a major textile maker in India, plans to accelerate expansion for the global brands in the Indian market. Arvind sells global brand such as Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Ed Hardy. In the year ended 31 March it added four more brands to its portfolio – GAP, Aeropostale, Sephora and The Children’s Place (TCP).
J. Suresh, chief executive officer of Arvind’s retail and brands business said that the four brands added to their portfolio from which they earlier expected revenues of Rs.2,000 crore in the next five years are now giving good response, as a result, they have stepped up on their expansion plans and will achieve Rs.2,000 crore revenues in four years.
The plan initially was to open 12 GAP stores in two years. The company has already opened 10 and will now have 14 Gap stores in the first two years of operations. The company has already opened seven TCP stores and will beat its target of 12 stores with a total of 15 outlets by the end of fiscal 2017 and an additional 15 shop-in-shops as well.
Likewise, for Areopostale, the initial plan was to open 40 stores in 4 to 5 years. This will now be achieved in 2 to 3 years, said Sumit Dhingra, who oversees the Nautica, Gant and Aeropostle brands.
According to the 2016 Global Retail Development Index report by consultancy AT Kearney, India is the second most attractive market for global retailers to expand in after China. But infrastructure bottlenecks, high attrition rates and limited high-quality retail space remain concerns for retailers.
