Hidesign to expand less in India, more abroad

Homegrown leather goods manufacturer, Hidesign, is reducing its store openings in India. The reason: paucity of high definition new malls. With no new malls opening, Hidesign has gone slow in its expansion plans in India. Instead, it’s looking at expanding internationally in six new markets this year, including Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Pondicherry-based Hidesign will now expand mainly through e-commerce, devoting a lot of energy into it and the proposed international expansion. Presently, it has 74 stores across the country and will add seven more. It will increase its sales from Myntra and Amazon from the present 20 per cent.

A report by real estate consultant JLL states there is a dearth of quality retail space in the country. Even though there is high vacancy across malls but there is less quality retail space. Apart from foreign retailers, even domestic ones are finding it tough to find quality space at the right price to make their business plans work. However, many believe that there is enough mall space vacant for brands to explore as 2015 saw consolidation of retail real estate by brands and retailers.

For Dilip Kapur, the force behind the brand, expanding within India is becoming a challenge because of paucity of good retail space.