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Swiss Military, the ‘affordable luxury’ lifestyle brand for men, is investing ₹200 crore to set up 11 company-owned flagship stores across major metros in India, beginning with a 4,000 sq ft store in Bengaluru, this December.
Investment in IndiaThe flagship stores will stock ₹50 lakh worth of merchandise. In addition, 160 franchisee stores will also be opened over the next 12-24 months.
Since its entry into the Indian market last April, the company has already invested ₹35 crore and has established a shop-in-shop presence in 550 multi-brand outlets across 57 cities in 23 States, including 50 large format retail stores such as Shoppers Stop, Landmark, Crossword, Planet M, Stanmart, Mobility World, Lulu’s Hyper Market, among others.
The brand will ramp up its presence to 4,000 multi-brand outlets by December 2016.
“Swiss Military is a $300-million brand serving every aspect in men’s lifestyle from travel gear, pens, watches, garments, accessories, eye gear, leather goods to outdoor/hiking, footwear, cosmetics, and electronics with over 1,800 SKUs globally that are targeted at the 18-35 age profile.
“In India, we have introduced six of our 12 global categories and sell a total of 300 SKUs which we plan to ramp up to 500 SKUs by the year-end,” Anuj Sawhney, Managing Director, Swiss Military Worldwide, told BusinessLine .
The company has decided to set up its Regional Office for the South markets in Bengaluru.
Preference for Bengaluru“IT city Bengaluru is home to a trendy, cosmopolitan, well travelled population, who have experienced sophisticated retail offerings.
“Our research shows that 70 per cent of Bengalureans prefer visiting organised retail stores even for routine purchases. Same store sales in Bengaluru where we have been present for the last two months is twice that of Delhi and Mumbai, where we have been present for over a year,” said Sawhney.
Swiss Military has launched its latest range of lifestyle products priced from ₹290 for a keychain to ₹13,000 for travel gear in multi-brand outlets in Bengaluru.
The eye wear collection for India, comprising 24 variants of sunglasses is being unveiled first in the city along with a one-size-fits-all collection of 16 genuine leather belts, hard top/soft top luggage sets, selfie sticks, USB ports, universal travel adaptors, passport holders cum wallets, laptop bags and so on.
Top categoriesThe top-three selling categories for the brand in India over the last 15 months are leather goods, followed by travel gear and accessories.
The brand has partnered with Flipkart and Amazon to sell its merchandise online, starting this month.
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