SP Apparels plans 12 Crocodile stores

Coimbatore-based SP Apparels, a garment manufacturing and export company which retails the Crocodile brand in India, plans to roll out about seven company-owned Crocodile stores in locations like Delhi, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Kolkata by July.

The company expects to scale this up to 12 stores by the end of this fiscal.

SP Apparels, which forayed into the Indian retail market by acquiring 60.14 per cent shareholding in Crocodile Products Private Limited (Crocodile India) last year, has already lined up nine company-owned stores, besides 50-odd franchisee-owned outlets within a span of nine months. It opened its first exclusive Crocodile retail store in Hyderabad on Thursday.

"Our retail division has already set the base by strengthening its presence in the existing markets and penetrating into new markets, recording a growth rate in retail sales by 30 per cent. We are also poised to bring fashion into men's clothing and now by acquiring women's wear brand Natalia recently, we will also bring international fashion to Indian doorsteps," P Sundararajan, managing director of Crocodile Products, stated in a press release.