The Hindu Business Line : 20 more Lee Cooper concept stores planned

INDUS Clothing Ltd and M&B Footwear, the licencees for Lee Cooper in India are in the process of expanding their operations in India and in the SAARC countries.

The company will set up a network of at least 20 Lee Cooper concept stores across the country by the end of this fiscal and is also planning to kick start operations in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next year, the Manager, Retail Operations, Mr Sumit Sharma, said here.

"Response to our existing eleven concept stores has been very positive and we now plan to take this route for future growth," Mr Sharma said adding that the total number of such stores by the next fiscal would touch 35.

"At present the concept stores account for 5-10 per cent of our sales and we plan to take this up to 25 per cent by next year," Mr Sharma said.

The company is also broad-basing its presence in the market with a foray into the women's footwear business which was soft launched in select markets. According to Mr Sharma the company expects this segment to contribute at least 15 per cent of revenues.

While the company is mainly betting on the franchisee operations to grow business in India, it is planning to set up at least four company-owned stores in cities where it expects significant sales.

On the anvil are stores in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The Hyderabad store is expected to be ready by December this year.

The company, which opened its concept store in Pune recently, is planning to open its next store in Bhopal and then in Jammu. The company is, meanwhile, setting up a new manufacturing plant at Dehradun, which will manufacture its Denim range while the existing plant in Delhi will continue to make shirts.

More Stories on : Retailing | Readymade Garments

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page