Galeries Lafayette, one of the world’s best-known department store chains, will make its India debut next month, in Mumbai’s arts and culture district of Kala Ghoda, as it seeks to tap into the country’s booming luxury market.
The Mumbai store, covering 90,000 square feet of space across five floors, has been set up at an investment of `150-200 crore in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL). The store aims to combine “experience with shopping”, offering consumers a space to explore new brands, labels and designers, using personal styling, private lounges, curated cultural programmes and concierge services. A food & beverage format within the Mumbai store is expected to be introduced by next year.
The French department store chain’s launch in India comes at a time when affluence, aspirational consumption and digital influence are on the rise, Arthur Lemoine, CEO, Galeries Lafayette, said in an exclusive conversation with FE.
Around 270 brands across beauty and ready-to-wear and accessories will be retailed at the Mumbai store, with two-thirds of them making their debut with Galeries Lafayette in India, Lemoine said.
“We host almost 37 million visitors a year at our Paris store, which is over 130 years old. Over half of them are international. We were increasingly seeing Indian consumers shopping at Galeries Lafayette in Paris. This tells us how interested they are in luxury brands and uber shopping destinations,” he said.
The iconic chain, best-known for its Art Nouveau architectural style combining domes, columns and arches in curved lines, will be launched in Delhi later. “Over the next few years, we will start exploring other markets, besides Mumbai and Delhi. Cities like Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Hyderabad are showing great potential for luxury retail. They may not be as large as Delhi or Mumbai, but we will look at right-sized, location-customized formats in 4-5 metro cities,” ABFRL MD Ashish Dikshit told FE.
According to a recent Bain & Company report, India’s luxury market is set to expand 3.5 times, reaching $85-90 billion by 2030, bolstered by the country’s economic growth. While major metros will be key centres of consumption, smaller cities are beginning to evolve in terms of luxury consumption, experts said.
R Satyajit, CEO-international brands at ABFRL, said that the assortment at the Mumbai store will tap first-time luxury buyers, occasional luxury buyers and well-travelled global shoppers as it seeks to grow its base of shoppers. The assortment and experience will be refreshed from time-to-time based on consumer response, he added.
Partnership marks coming-of-age in retail: KM Birla
Indian luxury stands at the threshold of transformation, with the partnership with Galeries Lafayette marking a coming-of-age moment in retail, Aditya Birla group chairman, KM Birla, said on Wednesday, on the occasion of the select preview of Galeries Lafayette in Mumbai. The department store chain has tied up with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) for its India launch. The first store will open next month.With one of the fastest-growing affluent populations in the world and a new generation of globally exposed consumers, the appetite for high-end experiences has never been stronger, Birla said. For the first time, India will welcome a luxury department store, housed in landmark real estate, executed with precision, and infused with the elegance of Indian sensibilities, he added.