Swedish retailer Rusta plans textile shipment from Gujarat

Hints at possibility of setting up its first Indian store in Gujarat

Having forayed in India, Swedish department store retailer Rusta is planning to tap the Gujarat market for textile shipments. Even as it opened its country headquarters in Delhi, Rusta looks to source textile products from Gujarat for its stores across Sweden.

"Gujarat is a very key market for us, specially in terms of the huge amount of textile shipments we plan from here. The whole scenario in this state seems to be very supportive of business activities in comparison to other states. The pace at which work gets done here, the keen understanding of what sells best for which kind of customer is very deeply rooted amongst its business people and hence, most of our manufacturers are from Gujarat only," said Gaurav Gambhir, country head - India, Rusta.

Hinting at possibility of setting up its first Indian store in Gujarat, Gambhir said, "We have also noticed how other retail companies have quickly established their base here and it should not surprise everyone, if we plan to open our first store here itself. Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Vapi, Bhavnagar and Gandhidham are important places for us from the viewpoint of manufacturing purposes. Gandhidham has largely cosmopolitan population due to migration of people from various parts for employment. Gujarat is the key investment destination for any foreign player entering India, especially on the retail side."

Apart from sourcing textile products from Gujarat, Rusta is also increasing its focus on sourcing paper, handicrafts, coir, plastics and jute from other parts of the country for its stores in Sweden.

Being its own importer, wholesaler, distributor as well as retailer, Rusta operates around 67 department stores across Sweden.

Every department store is at least 2000 sq mtrs. Fully owned by Rusta, each store witnesses more than 55 000 customers.

More than 80 per cent of the products sold in Rusta's stores are imported from Europe and Asia in large volumes.

In all, the $ 400 million Swedish retailer is looking to import finished products worth Rs  200 crore annually in next 3-4 years.