The Tata Group-owned Trent, best-known for its Westside and Zudio apparel chains, will look to add a new retail brand every five years as it seeks to expand its presence in fashion and lifestyle, the company told analysts.
The growth push comes as the retailer seeks to tap different parts of the discretionary basket, analysts said, amid increasing competitive intensity and slowing topline growth rates.
Responding to a slower growth environment
In the June quarter, the company reported a 20% topline growth rate, which was below the 35% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) it had reported for the last five years. It was also below Trent’s own long-term target of growing 25% annually, as stated by chairman Noel Tata at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) held on July 3.
On Friday, Trent’s MD P Venkatesalu reiterated the company’s commitment for newer brands in its portfolio at a launch in Bengaluru, saying that the retailer acted as a platform for multiple formats that were created and then scaled up based on market response. “Trent is not just about one brand; it serves as a platform,” he told reporters at the event.
Anchoring growth on new brands
Trent has been quick to implement its expansion strategy, getting into youth fashion last month with Burnt Toast, a chain of stores for trendy and affordable fashion, launched in Bengaluru, Surat, Pune and Thane. The launch will see it compete with Reliance Retail’s Yousta, Aditya Birla Fashion’s Style Up and Shoppers Stop’s Intune chain of stores, which also target the youth with trendy wear.
Venkatesalu has indicated that the company will anchor its retail strategy for Burnt Toast in catchments that have dense youth population. The chain will also see a phased rollout across additional cities in the coming months, he added, to tap into the growing cohort of Gen Z consumers.
At the same time, Trent has also stepped up its focus on beauty with Zudio Beauty, launched in October last year. A number of Zudio Beauty stores are located within Zudio outlets to maximise footfalls and improve sales conversions, retail experts said.
Zudio, launched in 2016, has already crossed $1 billion (`8,600 crore) in revenue in FY25, according to Trent’s annual filings. Trent’s overall revenue touched Rs 17,125 crore in FY25, up 38.5% year-on-year. Westside, launched in 1998, is estimated to have a revenue of around Rs 5,000-6,000 crore, according to analysts.
Trent has also stepped into ethnic wear with Utsa and occasion wear with Samoh, tapped emerging categories such as innerwear, footwear and lab-grown diamond jewellery called Pome (jewellery launched in Westside stores) over the last few years. These concepts, however, remain a small part of its portfolio at the moment. As of June 30, Trent’s store portfolio included 248 Westside, 766 Zudio (including 2 in UAE), 77 Star Bazaar and 29 stores across other lifestyle concepts.
According to Motilal Oswal, the retailer has a long runway for growth with its new initiatives. “We like Trent for its robust footprint additions especially in Zudio, strong double-digit growth, potential for growth in Star, and scale-up opportunities in emerging categories such as beauty, innerwear, footwear, and jewellery. However, revenue growth acceleration remains a key trigger,” the brokerage said.