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Gitanjali Group rolls out aggressive retail expansion strategy |
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• Acquires 76% stake in Salasar |
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• Aims to increase retail footprint to 15,00,000 sq. feet by 2011 |
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Mumbai, December 16, 2009
As a commencement of the major retail expansion strategy, Gitanjali Group today announced that it has acquired a 76% stake in Salasar Retail Ltd, a successful chain of mid-sized departmental stores across India. |
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Gitanjali plans to relaunch the Salasar chain as “Maya by Gitanjali Lifestyle” and offer jewellery and different lifestyle products both to existing customers of Gitanjali and new customers in the lifestyle space. |
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Salasar opened its first outlet in Raipur in 2002, and today has ten multi-storey stores in northern India, with 200,000 sq ft of the area under operation. With this move, Gitanjali will gain access to prime catchment areas of Tier II cities like Delhi, Cuttack, Kanpur, Gwalior, Guwahati, Indore and others through stores with an area of 20,000 sq ft each. |
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Maya stores will also be opened in other parts of the country. The company expects an additional turnover of about Rs. 1,000 crores from “Maya” stores over the next three years, with major component of about 60-70% coming from jewellery sales. |
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Elaborating on the Group’s overall expansion strategy, Mr. Mehul Choksi, CMD, Gitanjali Group, said, “This acquisition is a part of the company’s plans to greatly increase its retail footprint and firmly position its jewellery retail operations within the larger luxury-lifestyle space.” |
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He added, “The Indian luxury retail sector has witnessed a very encouraging spurt on account of the fillip from Lifestyle Product brands and offerings that are positioned more as a hi-end lifestyle statement than on the functionality aspect of the product. We are geared up to seize this retail opportunity through an aggressive expansion and diversification strategy. We have taken an important step in this direction with the acquisition of Salasar.” |
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The company plans to increase the retail footprint by an additional 1.25 to 1.50 mn sq feet of retail space by FY 2010-11 with the focus on revenue sharing model and prime catchment areas. Gitanjali has already partnered with various leading mall developers under the revenue sharing model. Retail Expansion will be in EBO, MBO and Large Multi Format Store categories. |
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About Gitanjali Group |
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Gitanjali Gems Ltd. is a corporate with interests in diamond and jewellery, retail, infrastructure and lifestyle businesses. In the diamond and jewellery segment, the Company has a significant presence across the entire jewellery value chain: From sourcing raw materials to selling branded jewellery, every avenue in the industry is covered by the Company’s integrated system. |
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Gitanjali is one of the first companies in India to introduce branded jewellery and has a dominant presence in retail jewellery. The Company has strong brands such as ‘D'Damas’, ‘Asmi’, ‘Sangini’, ‘Nakshatra’, ‘Gili’, etc and sells its products in India through its vast network of 1,250 outlets including outlets in host stores. The Company has more than 5,00,000 sq. ft of retail space and is planning to increase it up to 1.5 mn sq. ft within the next three years. Additionally, the Company operates 143 retail jewellery stores located across the United States through the acquisitions of Samuels Jewelers and Roger Jewelers. |
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About Gitanjali Gems Limited: |
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Gitanjali Gems (GGL) is an India based integrated diamond and jewellery manufacturer and retailer established in 1966. The company`s activities are spread across the entire value chain from sourcing and processing rough diamonds to manufacturing, branding and retailing gold and diamond jewellery. |
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Gitanjali Gems Ltd., part of the Gitanjali Group of Companies promoted by Mr. Mehul Choksi, is one of the largest and fastest growing diamond and jewellery businesses in the world. The Group has been the pioneers of the jewellery retail revolution, with several of their brands enjoying strong equity amongst consumers, including Gili, Asmi, D’Damas, Maya, Sangini. Gitanjali’s brands are thus, the most visible jewellery brands in the Indian market today. |
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Gitanjali has combined a world class manufacturing discipline with a reach-enhancing retail strategy to emerge as one of the most valuable jewellery conglomerates in the country today. |
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Gitanjali has four decades of experience, being one of the earliest diamond houses in India. The company was accorded a Sight by the Diamond Trading Company Ltd., London as early as 1968, making it amongst the first Sightholders in this part of the world. Having received over 50 National and Council awards from the Ministry of Commerce for outstanding exports, it is today one of the largest diamond exporting companies in India. Presently the Gitanjali Group has highly modernized diamond cutting and polishing facilities at five locations in India and globally diversified manufacturing operations in Bangkok, Vietnam and China and a marketing network spread across Europe, Hong Kong, USA and Japan. |
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Being a DTC Sightholder, a diamond and jewellery manufacturer, the Group has strategically positioned itself to manufacture and promote diamonds as well as studded jewellery all the way to the retail level. |
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