The Hindu Business Line : Reliance Retail in talks with global luxury brands

New Delhi March 14 Reliance Retail is in talks with a large number of global luxury retail brands such as Armani, Calvin Klein, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and Ralph Lauren to mark its foray into the luxury retail segment in India.

"Reliance Retail is talking to a large number of global luxury brands to tie up for its luxury retail venture as part of its retail initiative," said an industry source.

The company is talking to high-end luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Armani, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Versace and the nature of its partnership with the respective brands is still being worked out.

2 formats

According to the source, Reliance will retail the luxury brand products through two formats — hypermarkets and speciality luxury stores. In the hypermarket format, which will roughly cover an area between 75,000 and 1.5 lakh sq.ft., about 10,000 sq.ft. would be used for retailing luxury brands under the lifestyle segment.

In this set-up, the company will retail a mix of high-end luxury accessories such as leather goods coupled with other segments like apparels and shoes.

With the first hypermarket expected to open in July this year, the company is planning to open around 700 such outlets across India within a span of three years, said the source.

Louis Vuitton's India Group Director, Mr Ravi Thakran, when contacted, confirmed that the company is in talks with Reliance for leather accessories.

As far as Reliance Retail's speciality luxury stores are concerned, they would ideally cover an area of not more than 3,000-4,000 sq ft. Initially, Reliance plans to open around 30 such speciality outlets in the metros and eventually 600 within the next three years.

According to Mr Asitava Sen, Retail Specialist, PricewaterhouseCoopers, "From the global brands' perspective, due to the current FDI regulations in India, they have no choice but to partner with an Indian retail company.

"It's good that they are choosing one that is bullish on the Indian market and has a very good understanding of the market diktats. For Reliance it's a win-win situation, since it is planning to enter the luxury retail market with globally renowned brands."

More Stories on : Retailing | Strategy | Reliance Industries Ltd | Brands

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