Future Group bets big on Mother Earth chain

After selling controlling stake in Pantaloon Retail to

Aditya BirlaNuvo to ease its debt burden, Future Group is concentrating on perking up its Mother Earth chain by following the business model of its rival Fabindia. According to sources, Mother Earth is looking at opening more than 100 outlets and focus on apparel, linens and accessories, which will be also sold in multi-branded department stores such as Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, with an aim to increase its annual sales more than five-fold. At present, Mother Earth has eight stores selling products in the furniture and handicrafts segment with revenues of less than Rs 100 crores.

Mother Earth gets half of its merchandise from self-help groups that the company incubates internally and the remaining comes from NGOs and independent artisans. The company was so far strengthening its sourcing and backend operations to get into aggressive expansion mode.

Mother Earth was co-founded over 15 years ago by craft activists Gita Ram and Neelam Chibber to tap into the market of handloom fabrics produced by artisans from rural India. Kishore Biyani’s Future Ventures invested in the company in 2009.

Fabindia on the other hand is focussing on e-commerce space with its youth oriented The Elephant Company brand apart from launching brick and mortar outlets. World’s largest luxury goods group LVMH’s private equity arm L Capital bought an eight per cent stake in Fabindia recently and it is considered to be one of the most profitable retailers in the country with revenues of more than 500 crores.