The Hindu Business Line : Archies to open 150 outlets to boost card sales

The cards and gifts major is planning to open 150 outlets across 18 cities across the country by March 2008, majority of which will be in the upcoming malls and prime retail space areas.

Although for the past four years greeting cards have witnessed a downward trend in sales, Archies feels that the cards business has now stabilised. The company, however, has been changing its focus from cards to gifts for which it has tied up in a licensee agreement with Disney to sell its merchandise.

The Executive Director of Archies, Mr Pramod Arora, said, "The company is looking to register 12 to 15 per cent growth from its last year turnover of Rs 73 crore." The gift segment, he affirmed, is going to be increasing its contribution to the overall revenues of the company, which stand at 35 to 40 per cent currently.

Regarding FDI in retail, Mr Arora said that it would prove very beneficial to the company. "Retail giants like Wal-Mart have specific spaces allotted to the cards segment in their stores and this is where we see tremendous opportunity to sell when they enter India," he added.

Earlier, Archies products were targeted at the teenage group. After studying the market, the company claims to have realised the potential in the 30-plus age group and introduced a range of gifts and cards to suit the tastes and likes of this segment.

The company currently has small exports and online business but Mr Arora stated that Archies is well equipped to scale up the operations whenever it sees a demand or a need.

Though the company is making cards in regional languages such as Marathi and Hindi, it has no further plans of expansion on this front. It is going to focus on increasing the number of outlets in the upcoming malls and shopping centres.

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