French apparel retailer plans 250 stores in India by FY10

Zudaas France, manufacturer and retailer of kids fashionwear and apparel, plans to have 250 outlets across India in this fiscal and aims to become a Rs 200-crore company by 2010-11.    

"This is the best time to expand our retail network as real estate prices are down and the estimated Rs 12,000-crore Indian kidswear market is growing annually at 15 per cent. We are scaling up our operation pan-India and plans to have 200 stores by March 2010 (in the kidswear segment)," Zudaas France MD Hitesh Mehta told PTI.     

At present, the company has 57 stores in the country. It is diversifying into exclusive men's and women's wear and of their newly planned outlets, 50 will be 'Zudaas Family' stores, which would be launched soon.     

He said most of the outlets would be franchise-operated and the company is looking at both metros, and Tier I and II cities and the stores will be in the size of 250-800 sq ft.     

"Our first family store will open in July in Delhi and the target is to have 50 Zudaas Family stores by the end of this fiscal," he said.     

The company is looking at an average revenue of Rs 7 lakh per month from each store once the expansion is over. "Our target is to achieve a turnover of Rs 210 crore by 2010-11," Mehta added.