Dubai’s Apparel Group plans to enter India in 2016

The Dubai based retail conglomerate, Apparel Group is set to invest at least 120 million dollars in capital expenditure to open 300 stores globally in 2016, with plans to enter the Iranian market by the end of 2017. The group is also looking to grow its geographical footprint in the GCC, Africa, and Asia. It currently has 1,200 stores and plans to have 1,500 by the end of the current year.

Said Nilesh Ved, Chairman, Apparel Group, Iran is a big market and everybody is looking at it. Everybody is studying and creating their strategies on Iran but nobody wants to take off; it’s a wait-and-watch strategy, till the market opens up. The group is already present in 14 countries and plans to have presence in at least 25 countries by 2020 by tapping into new markets particularly in Africa. Apparel Group plans to expand in India and Indonesia — both of which it is already present in. In India, Apparel Group plans to add 30 stores in 2016, while in the GCC, it plans to add a total of 100 stores this year.

Apparel Group is also looking at bringing new brands, with plans to add five new ones in 2016. Currently, it has 55 brands under its belt including Tommy Hilfiger, Aldo, Nine west, Aeropostale, Calvin Klein, Toms, Kenneth Cole, and Tim Hortons, among others.