Aditya Birla's The Collective to expand presence in India

The multi-brand luxury lifestyle retail outlet The Collective, a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed Aditya Birla Nuvo is planning to expand its footprint across India by opening 8-10 stores in eight cities in the next three years. The company is investing around Rs 90 crore for this expansion. It has recently opened its fourth store in Pune and will later in Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Chennai by end of this year.

Talking to Business Standard, Shitalkumar Mehta, COO - international brands and retail at Madura Fashion and Lifestyle said, "The Collective began in Bangalore over three years ago and since then it has captivated consumers with its exclusivity, plush retail experience and unmatchable selection in fashion. All our new stores will be in the 6,000-12,000 sq ft range depending on the city and location. Having captured Mumbai and Delhi as well, we now come to Pune with our fourth store. Our effort is to make luxury products affordable."

He added, "The Collective will be seen coming up in Tier II and Tier III cities in this fiscal year. We will have around 8 – 10 stores in about 9 cities by 2013 across the country and the cities that we are targeting are a mix of metros and smaller cities. The stores will be opened cities like Hyderabad, Chennai Kolkata and Chandigarh."

After three years of its launching, The Collective stores have broken even and has recorded sales revenue of Rs 50 crore. Currently, The Collective has one store each in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Each store sells a range of 60 international luxury fashion brands including Armani Collezioni, D&G, Hugo Boss, Vivienne Westwood, Fred Perry, Hackett, J Brand, Michael Kors, Simon Carter, True Religion and Juicy Couture.