Tommy Hilfiger to expand presence

Most big apparel makers are eyeing the growing Indian market

for casual and sportswear and leading brands are in an expansion mode. From 14 cities, the Tommy Hilfiger will scale up their presence to 20 cities this year. The brand already has a presence in major cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

The multinational brand was launched in India in April 2004 through a 50:50 partnership with the Arvind Murjani group, a joint venture between the Murjani Group and Arvind Brands. The 77-year-old global group with a proven track record in international and Indian markets is bullish about its prospects in India and plans to expand into Tier II cities and open more stores in the metros where it is already present.

According to Tommy Hilfiger Apparel India CEO and director, Shailesh Chaturvedi they want to ramp up the number of outlets to 85. He feels the brand’s success in India is mainly because of the high awareness it enjoys as it was one of the first international fashion brands to enter the Indian market.

According to him, Tommy Hilfiger accessories clocked double-digit growth compared to around five per cent by other brands. They generate business worth Rs 100 crores from apparels alone in India.