Tainwala acquires 50% of Planet Retail

Ramesh Tainwala, President, Middle East and Asia Pacific,

Samsonite and American Tourister, has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Planet Retail, which markets fashion brands like Guess, Next and Nautica. Tainwala bought his stake from NRI businessman VP Sharma, in a bid to expand his presence in the booming retail space. Tainwala, who owns a part of the Samsonite business in India, came into the picture three months after Kishore Biyani-led Future Group ended the joint venture with Planet Retail Holdings.

Tainwala didn’t reveal the amount he paid for the 50 per cent stake but says he was drawn to the business because lifestyle retailing is a sunrise industry in India. He also believes that his 14-year experience with Samsonite would add value to Planet Retail. Tainwala would continue his association with Samsonite, where he is President for the luggage maker’s South Asian region. He holds 40 per cent stake in Samsonite India.

As the new co-owner and chairman of Planet Retail, Tainwala plans to overhaul the retailing company’s portfolio, invest $120 million towards new outlets and grow its revenues manifold in the next couple of years. He also feels with many brands in their portfolio, they cannot do justice to all of them. Therefore, he has decided to concentrate on five brands for the next three years. The chosen five brands are Debenhams, Guess, Next, Accessorize and Nautica. The Body Shop, Sole Effect, Osh-Kosh B’Gosh and Carter’s are not immediate priorities according to Tainwala’s strategy. Debenhams department store, the Cash Cow contributes the maximum to Planet Retail’s $25 million revenue. Currently, there is one Debenhams store in Gurgaon and the plan is to open three more stores in metros. The company has been revamping the store locations across brands and has closed down several non-lucrative outlets. For instance, it closed down 10 of the 13 Accessorize stores. The plan is to open more Accessorize stores at high consumer traffic points.