Raymond plans to open 50 stores

Mumbai: Apparel maker and retailer Raymond is zeroing in on smaller cities with less than 1 million population for expansion in a bid to avoid being crowded out and take advantage of lower real estate cost.

The company plans to open 50 stores, mostly franchisee, in smaller cities by the end of current financial year, a top company official said.

“We see good business opportunity in smaller cities. We have large assortment of products such as fabrics, readymade garments to cater to the demand of the population there,” said Aniruddha Deshmukh, president, retail and FMCG, Raymond.

At present, Raymond runs 390 stores, of which 60 are owned by the company. It runs shops under the brand The Raymond Shop, which are exclusive shops for its brands such as Park Avenue, Colour Plus and others. Deshmukh said the ongoing economic downturn has not impacted the company in a big way as its retail stores have registered the same growth of 12 per cent in the recent months, he said.

“We are also seeing robust sales from the ongoing marriage season,” he said.

Earlier, Tata Group's retail arm Trent said it would open 30 Westside stores in tier-II and tier-III cities to tackle the delay in opening malls, soaring property rentals, and so on.

“The franchise route will help us to overcome the property challenge in these cities and scale up our operations quickly. We will also get the first mover advantage in these cities, which do not have much retail presence,' a top Trent official said during the announcement of its plans.