Gitanjali to foray into branded apparels

After establishing a strong foothold in the real estate and

luxury lifestyle market, the Rs 65 billion turnover Gitanjali Gems is now diversifying into branded apparels. Founded as a single company cutting and polishing diamonds for the jewellery trade the Gitanjali Group having become a pioneer among major diamond and jewellery houses is foraying into other business spheres for some time now. To support its large scale retail activities, the company proposes to launch its own clothing brands over the next six months. This would include three women’s wear brands, one kid’s wear and one men’s wear brand.

 The plan is still at a very nascent stage and they are still identifying vendors and forming the team. According to Deepak Tulsian, VP-Retail, Gitanjali Gems they will be introducing ethnic and western wear in the women’s segment while polo shirts will be launched as part of menswear.  The brand is targeting consumers from socio-economic class A and B. The company has plans to open more Maya stores in Cuttack, Agra and Ranchi in the next two months. Currently, the main focus is to introduce private labels for Maya and later take the label to LFS, MBOs and also franchisees.

Gitanjali Gems has recently launched seven MBOs, spread over 20,000 sq. ft. each under the name Maya. These outlets owned by Salasar Retails, were bought out in 2009. The company intends to further invest Rs 120 million to launch five more Maya outlets in Raipur, Ranchi, Cuttack, Agra and Hubli over the next six months. It targets Rs 10 billion in sales revenue from these outlets over the next three to five years. The company has adopted a revenue sharing model, under which premium lifestyle brands will display products at their own cost.