Vijaykumar & Co to open 15 jewellery retail outlets

A DTC sightholder and exporter of diamonds and finished jewellery, B Vijaykumar and Company, will open 15 standalone designer retail jewellery outlets by March 2007 in 10 cities even as it targets a Rs 10-crore turnover in its first year of operation.

The retail expansion plan also covers opening of 50 to 75 shop-in-shops. Its stores, 'Hoop', specially designed targeting the youth, both men and women, will focus on development of the rudimentary men's market.

The size of the jewellery outlets would range between 350 to 600 square feet. Presently, there are seven `Hoop' stores with three in Mumbai and four in Delhi.

The company, however, did not divulge the exact investment figures but its director Rajeev Shah said, "Typical stores are created at a rate of Rs 2,500 per square feet with merchandise of approximately Rs 20 lakh in each outlet and of Rs 2 lakh at shop-in-shops."

The products to be available will be silver, titanium, tungsten, steel, rubber and leather with diamonds and colour stones.

The company today employs more than 10,000 skilled workers globally. With factories spread over 60,000 sq ft, the group produces more than 1.5 million pieces of finished jewellery annually.

It has marketing offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong.