Major Brands India Pvt Ltd, a franchisee for several international lifestyle product companies such as Bath & Body Works (BBW) and Aldo, plans to invest nearly ₹260 crore over the next four years to double its retail stores.

It has so far invested about ₹400 crore to set up nearly 160 stores of international lifestyle brands such as Call it Spring, Inglot, La Senza, Bebe and New Balance, apart from BBW and Aldo.

Of the ₹260 crore, it will invest ₹80 crore over five years to set up 50 stores of BBW, a $4-billion US-based group. A new BBW outlet was opened here last Friday — the first in South India and the sixth in the country. By the end of this year, there will be 10 or 11 BBW stores, said Tushar Ved, President, Major Brands India.

BBW, best known for its fragrances, will feature around 600 product varieties at its Chennai outlet, including candles and body lotions priced at ₹249 to ₹2,500, he said. In India, the market size for bath and body care products, including skin and shower gels, is around $20 billion, he told BusinessLine .

Premium international lifestyle brands enjoy a large fan following in India, and the market is expanding at a fast pace, said Ved. A large number of Indians travel abroad and shop there for premium products. This is one of the reasons for the increasing demand for such brands here, he added.

“We plan to bring a couple more international brands to India soon,” he said without revealing the names. Bringing an international brand to India is a long process, he said, adding that BBW was brought in after three years of talks.

“We fully import all the products of international brands. For example, in footwear alone, we import over 2,00,000 pieces every year,” said Ved, who was here to launch the new BBW outlet at the Express Avenue mall.

Online sales

The company is testing its website to sell international brands, he further said, adding that it expects online sales to account for nearly 20 per cent of total sales in three or four years.

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