Sri Lankan retailers step up India presence via single brand route

Sri Lankan retailers are making a beeline to enter India through the single brand FDI (foreign direct investment) route.

After premium brands such as Avirate and Amante, fashion and lifestyle brand Odel is also seeking to set up stores in the country.

Odel will bring in its private labels and stay away from multi-brand retail, since the norms and clauses attached to it are considered to be stringent by most international retailers waiting to enter India.

“It would be difficult to bring in all our brands since there are clauses governing multi-brand retail. But we are considering the single brand retail route where 100 per cent FDI has been allowed, and plan to set up our stores in India with just one or two brands,” said Otara Gunewardene, Founder and CEO, Odel.

Sourcing Odel stores in Colombo are mostly in malls, selling several fashion and lifestyle brands.

Since Odel has already been sourcing from India, the local sourcing clause of 30 per cent is not likely to make any difference to the Sri Lankan retailer.

“We took the decision to come through the single brand retail route as we have been sourcing from India for many years. This would suit us as we set up our Odel stores,” she added.

Amante’s plans Premium lingerie brand Amante, the first Sri Lankan brand to enter India seven years ago, is also planning to tap into the single brand retail route to open its exclusive outlets.

Amante is in India through Mas Brands India, a subsidiary of its holding company, Mas Holdings in Sri Lanka.

“All these years we have not been able to sell directly through our own stores. We are present through multi-brand outlets, but now we intend having 20-30 exclusive brand outlets. We are looking at single brand retail as we are already sourcing from India,” said Vivek Mehta, CEO, Mas Brands India.

Amante has three factories in India for global sourcing. Single brand retail would help facilitate operations for the Sri Lankan retailer.

Meanwhile, woman’s western wear brand Avirate (part of Sri Lanka’s Timex group) is present in the country for the past three years through the single brand retail route.

Rahul Gupta, COO, Avirate India said: “We have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 45 per cent, as woman’s western wear is the fastest growing segment at 15 per cent in India. We plan to open 64 stores in the next three years, which include some large format stores.”

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