UK?s lifestyle departmental store brand, Debenhams, is planning to set up it?s design hub in India, Francis Mcauley, international director, Debenhams told FE.
According to Mcauley, “After Turkey and China, we are planning to set up a design hub in India. We have about 25 international designers who would be involved in operations at India’s design hub too. Besides this, we will rope in select top Indian designers as well, to associate with us for fashionable apparels.” Gurgaon-based Planet Retail Holdings Private Ltd is the exclusive franchisee for Debenhams in India.
As for the rationale behind the move, Mcauley explained, “We feel the Indian market is quite attractive for selling branded fashionable apparels, cosmetics, children’s fashion, footwear and to address the demand, Debenhams stores in India will host 80 brands of leading British designers. We are planning to set up 30 Debenhams stores in India in the next 10 years. Each store will vary in capacity, from 35,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft in size.”
Debenhams has recently started talking to retail majors such as Indiabulls, Emaar MGF, Unitech, DLF and InOrbit, in order to set up Debenhams stores within their malls. Mcauley said, “We would prefer being present within malls first and scout for locations in order to set up standalone stores wherever we find suitable deals. After setting up Debenhams flagship store in Delhi, we have recently opened Debenhams stores at Oberoi Mall at Goregaon, Mumbai.”
Sameer Prasad, chief operating officer, Planet Retail Holdings Ltd said, “We are planning to bring in international branded children’s fashion as well to India.” However, Prasad refused to divulge further details. Currently, Planet Retail offers, apart from Debenhams, a portfolio of renowned brands such as Guess, Next, The Body Shop, Marks & Spencer and Accessorize.
Debenhams has 145 stores including 10 Desire by Debenhams stores, across the UK and Ireland with approximately 10.9 million sq ft of trading space and 21,000 employees.