Apparel Group to expand India stores from 250 to 1,000 locations

The company intends to open 750 new stores over the next three years.

Dubai-based Apparel Group, which began its operations in Dubai in 1996 and expanded into India in 2001, is planning a significant expansion in the Indian market. The company intends to open 750 new stores over the next three years.

Currently, Apparel Group has a portfolio of 85 brands and 2,200 stores across 14 countries, including operations in India with 17 brands and 250 stores spread across 38 cities.

Ved mentioned that the company sees potential for expansion for several of its brands, such as Bath & Body Works, Aldo, Crocs, and Tim Hortons. The group currently operates 33 Tim Hortons stores and plans to increase this number to 250. Additionally, they aim to expand Aldo from 69 stores to 150, R&B from 35 stores to 200, and add 200 more Crocs stores.

He also revealed that over the next six months, the company plans to introduce two new food and beverage brands, Sushi Library and Allo Beirut, to the Indian market. He emphasized that they are always looking for opportunities in the industry, whether in value retail or international brands in fashion and footwear.

India currently contributes 10 percent of the group’s overall revenue, which is valued at $2.2 billion. The company aims to increase India’s share to 25 percent within the next three years. Ved pointed out that footwear, beauty, food and beverage, and the value segment are currently the best-performing categories for the company in India.

For the R&B brand, the company sources all its raw materials from India for its Indian stores and 60 percent for its Gulf stores. Ved also mentioned that they are currently sourcing most of the raw materials for the Aldo brand from India and plan to start exporting these materials to other countries globally within a year.