Lacoste to double store count in 4-5 yrs

After going slow on expansion for a year, French luxury brand Lacoste has drawn an aggressive plan to double its store count to up to 90 in 4-5 years.
"Since July last year, the retail sector has been under pressure due to sluggish economy and heavy discounting by e-commerce firms. Last year, we slowed expansion but now we are re-starting the journey and we want to double our points of sale in India. We want to have 85 to 90 stores in 4-5 years," Lacoste India Director & CEO Rajesh Jain told PTI.
Lacoste, which opened just two stores in the previous fiscal, is also looking at starting its own e-commerce portal by the end of this year. It does not have an online presence at present, it does not allow discounting on its products, a common practice seen in online marketplaces.

"By the end of this year, we will have our own portal. Internationally, after 1-1.5 years digital flagship starts delivering equivalent to offline store. It has very good growth potential. It will give us reach where we are not present. We will be able to match our digital flagship with offline flagship within 1-1.5 years," Jain added.
New stores will be a mix of company-owned and franchised stores.
As present, Lacoste India operates 44 stores including one store in Maldives. It operates through Sports and Leisure Apparel Ltd, which is a licensee of parent Lacoste SA to manufacture and market its products.

Sports and Leisure Apparel has a manufacturing unit in Noida. It manufactures 95 per cent of apparels in India while it imports shoes, bags, belts, sunglasses, watches and jewellery.