Aditya Birla Group-promoted Madura Garments is looking to expand its premium brand, The Collective. The company is planning to set up its super-premium luxury stores in three new cities next year. It also plans to invest Rs 40 crore to expand in the existing locations. Currently, there are two The Collective stores of 17,500 square feet each in Bangalore and Mumbai. Third store is expected to come up soon in Delhi.
The Collective chief operating officer Ram Iyer said the first store, opened in 2008, has turned profitable. “We position ourselves as a super-premium brand. Of the two stores, one has achieved single-store profitability. We had spent roughly Rs 8 crore in setting up a store excluding the staff cost. We are opening the third store in Delhi on Sunday and the plan is to explore opportunities in Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad by next year. We will also mulling to open more stores in the existing markets,” he said.
The company is targeting to open 7 stores by the end of FY12. The size of the stores might differ. “We might look at smaller stores of 5,000-6,000 sq ft also,” Iyer said. The luxury retail market in India is pegged at around Rs 2,400 crore and is growing at 25% year-on-year.
The stores house high-end apparel from international brands including Armani Collezioni, Adriano Goldschmeid, Duchamp, Fred Perry, Hackett, Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole, Ted Baker, True Religion and Versace Collection priced in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 1,00,000. “We will introduce new brands in the coming season for men and women,” he said.
The company also sells accessories including watches, cufflinks, shoes, ties, belts, leather products and sunglasses by leading brands like Church?s shoes, Momo Design, Puma Black Station, Toy Watch, grooming products from Molton Brown and others.