D’damas to scale up network

With a retail footprint in over 150 cities, diamond jewelry brand D’damas, a joint venture

between Gitanjali Gems and the Dubai-based Damas Group, is coming up with five flagship, company-owned stores by March 2011. The total jewelry market is estimated at around Rs150,000 crores and the branded segment constitutes around five per cent of and D’damas holds around 10-15 per cent of the branded jewelry market. Currently, the brand operates through three channels – franchises, distribution outlets and modern retail. It has 28 franchise stores and a network of 750 retailers across 325 towns. In modern retail, it has 122 touch points across multi-brand outlets such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons and Ritu Wears.

Besides, the brand hopes to ramp up the franchisee network to about 80 stores by December 2011. And by March 2012 the brand aims to touch 100 stores. Each store will entail an investment of Rs 3 to Rs 5 crores. The franchisee network by March 2011 will cover about 28 cities and 53 cities by December 2011. Most Tier I-II cities, state capitals and emerging retail locations would be covered by December 2011. The expansion will be funded through internal accruals. D’damas will be adding 30,000 sq. ft. of retail space by March 2011. D’damas’ strategy for growth will include widening its channel reach through distributors and also expanding its own retail canvas in the domestic market.