Maya’s lofty ambitions: More stores, more brands

Last December, the Gitanjali Group, known for its Gitanjali Gems, acquired a 76 per cent stake in Salasar, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Gitanjali Lifestyles. Salasar is a retailer engaged in the business of retailing, selling, trading and distribution of fabrics

and ready-to-wear garments positioned as a chain of stores catering to the value retail segment. Hence, Maya was born. Maya is a chain of multi-brand format mid size department stores located on high streets and malls, with over 150 national and international brands of apparel, accessories and jewelry for men, women and children.

With an aspiration to be counted in the top five department store brands within the next three to five years, Maya has been keeping a strong focus on reaching 100 outlets and generating over Rs 1,000 crores. With an average store size of 20,000 sq. ft. Maya’s eyes are set on Tier I and II cities, targeting its socio-economic A and B classes. Currently, the group has 10 outlets. Post acquisition, seven of these stores has been converted to Maya format with categories like apparels, accessories, jewelry and home décor. The group now has outlets in Delhi, Indore, Allahabad, Gwalior, Guwahati, Cuttack, Raipur, Agra and Nanded. Upcoming locations include Mumbai, Ranchi, Hubli among others. Maya’s upcoming store in Dadar, Mumbai is one of their best designed stores keeping Maya’s lifestyle positioning in mind. According to Deepak Tulsian, VP, Retail Strategy, Gitanjali Lifestyles, “All the stores are company managed and we are moving towards developing the franchise model where capex and opex would be shared. And by end of the fiscal, all Maya stores are expected to generate profits.”

“Maya’s rapid success has attracted more brands wanting to hitch on its bandwagon. Popular apparel brands like Remanika, Noi, Global Desi and Enryca came on board this month while fragrances from brands like Nautica, Reebok, Nike, Ajmal and Playboy and new categories like eyewear, cosmetics and personal care would be added by the end of March 2011,” informs Tulsian. Tulsian says they plan to add more national level brands in women’s category to further strengthen western and ethnic categories. The latest autumn/winter range includes collections from Belmonte, Mufti, Duke, Blue Mount, Lee, Preview, Scotland and Striker. The kids section has its own autumn/winter collection presented by Lilliput, Gini & Jony, Unikid and may more.

Maya is now fully integrated with Gitanjali Lifestyle and seeks to strategically develop business in the premium retail segments and strengthen the lifestyle connect. Maya has now positioned itself as a lifestyle store for women, who take major purchase decisions in an Indian household. Commenting on the stores’ skew towards women, Tulsian says, “Maya targets women in three categories in the age group of 22 to 45 years; university students, working women and housewives across Sec A and Sec B. Based on their spending habits and shopping requirements for self, friends, kids, husbands, relatives and home needs, the strategies would be target specific across these the categories.”

Not surprisingly, the average Maya stores dedicate about 35 per cent of its space for women’s apparel, whilst jewelry takes up another 10 per cent. Playing to win, Maya is leaving no stone unturned. Its own loyalty programme and online shopping facilities are gearing up to support the brick and mortar outlets to give the competition a run for their money.