Raymonds Franchise Stores to Be Added This Year In More Than 100 New Locations Across India

Raymond to take franchisee route to open 100 stores

Mumbai:Friday 16 April, 2010, The Rs 1,200-crore Raymond Ltd is planning to open 100 retail stores through its franchisee network in tier-IV and V cities like Bijapur, Mandya and Bellary in Karnataka, and Ahmednagar and Bhandara in Maharashtra, among others, in calendar year 2010. This is more than the 76 franchise stores the company opened in 2009-10 with an investment of around Rs 25 crore.

The branded apparel and textile major currently has approximately 10 lakh sq ft of retail space across 520-odd stores. Of these, around 60 are owned by the firm.

‘The Raymond Shop’ stores stock exclusive Raymond brands, which include ColorPlus, Park Avenue and Parx. Around 450 are the company’s franchisees. Retailing contributes 49% to the company’s overall revenues.

Raymond president (retail & business development) Rakesh Pandey said: “We are opening 100 stores through our franchisee network in tier IV and V cities by the end of this calendar year.” He added that the revenues from these stores are expected to be around Rs 30 crore.

The total revenue from the retail business could not be ascertained because some of Raymond's brands are produced by its subsidiaries, and will only be available in company’s annual balance sheet.

Last week, the company launched a ‘made-to-measure’ store at Palladium, located in the famous Phoenix Mills mall in Mumbai. The store is a 500 sq ft area, which mainly offers custom fits of garments.

In fiscal 2009, Raymond operated with a same-store-sales (SSS) growth of 7% and closed its third quarter with a total income of Rs 375 crore. The Raymond group has around 12 subsidiaries, out of which Raymond handles the textiles, engineering and aviation businesses. Other subsidiaries include Raymond Apparel Ltd, ColourPlus Fashion Ltd, EverBlue Apparel Ltd and Silver Spark Apparel.

Last October, the company CMD Gautam Singhania had announced an investment of Rs 100 crore to open about 300 stores across the country by end-March 2011 as part of Raymond’s expansion plans.

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