American fashion brand Banana Republic to open first Indian store

American fashion brand Banana Republic will open its first store in India early next year. The brand plans to partner with Arvind Retail to foray into the Indian market. The plan is to open its first store by February.

Owned by Gap, which is already present in India, Banana Republic will have a wide appeal since there is a dearth of bridge-to-luxury brands in the country. Also, the fashion conscious youth have the money to spend, thus creating a lucrative market for the brand. Banana Republic will compete with Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein in terms of price points. But for the brand will be good because there are not too many players in this segment and so it will have a good potential.

Arvind Retail operates more than 800 stores in India across a portfolio of more than 30 brands including US Polo and Arrow. In its year old partnership with GAP, it has opened nearly eight Gap stores. So far, Gap has sold apparel and accessories worth Rs 80 per square foot daily on an average. It managed to surpass other retailers in the country in terms of sales per square foot. India has become an attractive destination for international brands to open shop. Zara became the first apparel brand in the country to have clocked in 100 million dollars (Rs 665 crores) mark in the first five years. H&M clocked more than Rs 1.75 crore sales on the first day of the launch.