DLF, Italian firm JV to open Sunglass Hut stores in India
DLF, the country's largest realty company by market value, today said it is bringing premium eyewear brand Sunglass Hut into India.
DLF has entered into a franchising agreement with Italian eyewear major Luxottica Group to set up Sunglass Hut stores in the country.
DLF will own the stores while Luxottica will manage the stores. Luxottica will open over 100 Sunglass Hut Stores in high-end malls and other premium locations across the country. The first store is expected to open during this month in New Delhi, a DLF release said.
DLF has recently announced DLF Retail Brands to tie up with international brands. DLF has already tied up with fashion majors such as Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Salvatore Ferragamo to set up their stores in the country. DLF runs luxury mall 'Emporio' in New Delhi, which houses nearly 100 brands and plans to set up eight new luxury malls across the country.
Luxottica has 6,200 optical and retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, China, South Africa and Europe and its brands include key house brand Ray-Ban. Of which, Sunglass Hut has a total of over 2,000 stores across the world.
''On the one hand, it allows us to become from day one a key player in one of the most promising retail markets for premium and luxury brands working side-by-side with the leading real estate company in the market. At the same time, it is an opportunity to further strengthen the positioning of our key brands, with an expected benefit for our entire business in that market,'' said Andrea Guerra, chief executive officer, Luxottica Group.
Kelvin Coyle, Chief Executive Officer of DLF Retail Brands said: “For a few years now, DLF has been involved in developing important projects for the establishment of big brands in India, a market that appreciates high quality products. Our strategic intent is to partner with brands that are leaders in their categories and Sunglass Hut certainly fits this criteria.”
“We strongly believe that Sunglass Hut is one of the key opportunities for growth for our group in mature and emerging markets alike. Thanks to its flexible business model and strong single global brand identity, we have been able to open in key markets on all five continents,” Coyle said.
Most recently, Sunglass Hut opened the first two of its 15 expected new locations in Thailand. This year, new stores are opened in Hong Kong as well as in the Middle East. Luxottica also announced that it will convert to Sunglass Hut all 71 sun stores it already owns in South Africa.