Lacoste to open more stores in India

Lacoste plans to double its store count in India over the next five years. Over the next five years, Lacoste’s sales in India are also expected to double.

Lacoste’s consolidated sales growth for financial year 2015 slowed to about 15 percent, down from 25 percent in the year-ago period. While the financial year ’15 was bad, the brand is seeing an upsurge in demand in the bridge-to-luxury segment, especially from younger consumers.

Lacoste is a premium French brand of clothing and accessories. It is known for its polo T-shirts in solid colors. It entered India in 1993, and has so far managed to open only 50 outlets across the country. The brand, which has stayed away from e-commerce in India till now, plans to start selling products online from next year.

Nearly 90 percent of the Lacoste products sold in India are manufactured locally. The company has doubled the capacity at its factory in Noida. Besides apparel, Lacoste sells shoes, bags, belts, sunglasses and watches for men, women and children. While apparel constitutes 89 percent of sales, 8 percent comes from footwear. At some stage home linen may be added.

Lacoste is among the first international brands in the premium fashion segment to come to India.