Gitanjali Gems to debut in branded apparels

After real estate and luxury lifestyle products, Gitanjali Gems is now diversifying into branded apparels. The flagship company of the Rs 6,500 crore Gitanjali Group is known primarily as a branded jewellery manufacturer and retailer.

“To support our massive retail activities, we plan to have our own textile brands – three women’s wear brands, one men’s wear and one kid’s wear – in the next six months,” says Deepak Tulsian, vice president, retail, of Gitanjali Gems.

Gitanjali is looking at sourcing the apparel brands from franchisees. The diversification is seen as a step towards restructuring of the entire group’s business. KPMG is advising the group on this.

Last year, the company opened seven multi-brand stores named Maya, with an average 20,000 sq ft area in Indore, Allahabad, Guwahati, Gwalior, Nanded and Delhi. A majority of these stores belonged to Salasar Retails, which Gitanjali acquired in 2009.

The company plans to open another five stores in Cuttack, Raipur, Agra, Ranchi and Hubli in the next six months at an investment of Rs 12 crore.

Tulsian says the company follows a revenue share model under which leading brands of lifestyle products display their products at their own cost. Leading jewellery brands Nakshatra, Desire, Giantti, D'Damas, Gili, Nakshatra and Asmi are displayed at these retail chains for complete lifestyle products under one roof.

The company plans a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore from Maya stores within three to five years.