Retail News Update

Raymond Ltd, the Rs 2,500 crore integrated textiles and apparel firm, is planning to double its retail presence in Karnataka by opening 50 stores over the next two years.

The retail arm which brings in Rs 750 crore of sales is aiming to set up presence in Tier IV and Tier V cities for this expansion.

At present, Raymond has more than 430 stores in India, West Asia and South Asia spread across 170 cities with approximately 1 million sq feet of dedicated retail space.

As part of its retail expansion, the company has set itself a target of setting up 950 stores by 2010 spread over 2 million sq feet of retail space. The company officials said that close to 90 per cent of this expansion will be led by franchisees.

Said Aniruddha Deshmukh, president, retail & FMCG, Raymond, “Last year our contribution was Rs 625 crore and we have grown by 20 per cent this year and we hope to continue this growth over the next few years. We are constantly bringing in extensions to our brands and this exercise will keep the sales going forward.”

In addition to the brand Raymond, the company also retails its other brands such as ColorPlus, Parx, Park Avenue, Manzoni besides licensed ones such as GAS.