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Tommy Hilfiger re-applies to open its stores

By Sujata Sachdeva

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American fashion firm, Tommy Hilfiger has applied with the government to open its own stores in the country. Last year, it had withdrawn its application with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) which had been stuck for more than three years. The reasons were purely regulatory. It had applied for a single-brand retail licence in June 2012 as it was seeking to add 500 points of sale in India in five years. It would have achieved this through its own shops, franchisee-run stores and shop-in-shops.

A 50:50 joint venture was signed by Tommy Hilfiger and Ahmedabad-based Arvind to help the company get a hold in the Indian market. In January 2012, India had allowed single brand retailers to run 100 per cent subsidiaries in India. But foreign companies couldn’t engage in franchisee and wholesale trading. This meant that many foreign companies got stuck including Tommy Hilfiger. But when the single-brand policy was overhauled last November, a ray of hope emerged for foreign companies. Now, Tommy Hilfiger is hoping to take advantage of the policy change as it wants to run a combination of company-owned and franchisee operated stores.

Tommy Hilfiger