Celio to hike local sourcing; double store count by Jan

CHANDIGARH: Celio, one of the largest French apparel brands, will cut down imports to the Indian market as it plans to increase local sourcing by six times and double its store count by January, said a senior company official. The move will help the apparel brand cut import cost and enjoy a profit margin of 10-12%.

“Within a year or so, 70% of the total merchandise for India will be produced in India,” said Rajat Luthra, CEO, Celio Future Fashion. The French brand, which operates in India with its equal JV partner Future Group, currently sources 3 lakh pieces a year from India.

At present, the $1billion menswear brand procures 30-40% of its merchandise for the Indian market from textile clusters such as Tirupur, Ludhiana and Bangalore, and imports the rest from France, Bangladesh, Morocco, Mauritius and Tunisia.

Like most foreign retailers, Celio too is betting big on the lucrative organised Indian retail market, pegged at $30 billion and growing. At present, it has 13 stand-alone stores and 55 shop-in-shop outlets, which it plans to increase to 24 and 70, respectively, by January.

Celio also intends to put 150 point of sales across India by 2013, which includes shop-in-shop in large format stores such as Pantaloons, Central and Lifestyle, and 60 exclusive brand outlets.