Gap to open first India store in Delhi

San Francisco-based clothing retailer Gap is set to enter India with its first store in Delhi in May through a partnership with domestic textile company Arvind Lifestyle Brands. Oliver Kaye will be the business head and general manager of the division dealing with the American brand.

This will be Kaye’s second stint in India as he was appointed as head of Calvin Klein India in 2008 and held the post for a month short of two years. He has rich international experience in retail. Kaye will be operating out of Bangalore, unlike his Calvin Klein days, when he was based out of Mumbai. Before this appointment, Kaye was heading the non-food strategy implementation at supermarket chain Tesco in Britain. At Tesco, Kaye also led the e-commerce business and retail operations (non-food).

Arvind Lifestyle is looking at opening 40 franchise-operated Gap stores in the first few years. The stores will offer clothes for all sections, including men, women, kids and babies from the very first store in Delhi from the first day. The pricing will be based on what is right for India. Arvind Lifestyle has multiple divisions. These include Gant, Ed Hardy, Izod, Geoffrey Beene. Gap will be another division.