Kailash Bhatia joins Future Group
Kailash Bhatia, formerly managing director and CEO of ColorPlus Fashions, a leading branded retailer, has put in his papers and joined the Future Group.
By Irshad Daftari, TNN |
MUMBAI: Kailash Bhatia, formerly managing director and CEO of ColorPlus Fashions, a leading branded retailer, has put in his papers and joined the Future Group.
Mr Bhatia will assume a newly created position of chief executive officer-fashion and merchandising for the retail group.
Mr Bhatia, who could not be reached, will be responsible for building an integrated merchandising division and will be based out of Mumbai.
He had co-founded ColorPlus Fashions with Rajendra Mudaliar in 1993, and Raymonds acquired a 75% stake in the company in 2002. The merchandising division will create brands and garments and will be catering to every delivery format that the Future Group has in fashion, including Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central, Jealous 21 and Fashion Station.
Mr Bhatia would be working closely with Santosh Desai, who has been appointed as head of Future Brands, a new division. Future Group managing director Kishore Biyani said, “We had this position in mind for a long time, but couldn’t sew it up. We have also been wooing Kailash for the past six months to the Future Group because he has got the capabilities we are looking for.”
Currently, the overall business of the Future Group comes predominantly from the fashion side. It contributes an esitmated Rs 2,000 crore, or about 40%, of the Future Group’s overall business.
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“Fashion would contribute nearly Rs 5,000 crore next year and we need to grow it from the brand and garment side,” Mr Biyani added. With his experience in operations, Mr Bhatia could help in increasing margins in fashion apparel, which currently stand at 40% for the Future Group, Mr Biyani said.
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