Raymond to add 100 stores in FY'12

MUMBAI: Textiles and apparel maker Raymond today said it would add 100 stores by investing Rs 37.50 crore in the coming fiscal to strengthen its foothold in clothes retailing.

"We already have 700 stores across our brands currently and will be adding 100 more in 2011-12," the company Chairman and Managing Director, Gautam Singhania, told reporters here today.

Singhania said the move was aimed at strengthening its presence in the Indian market at a time when foreign brands were waiting for a share of the domestic apparel market, estimated to be at over Rs 75,000-crore.

However, Singhania said entry of such brands will help Raymond, which sells brands such as Park Avenue, Parx, ColorPlus and Manzoni, as customers will find more value-for-money for the same quality.

Singhania said the company will not be spending much on the expansion as a majority of these outlets will be on the franchisee model.

The company's President (Apparels), Shreyas Joshi, said it involved an expenditure of around Rs 2,500 per square feet and the minimum store area is around 1,500 square feet, which should be multiplied by 100 stores it plans to open, (which comes to about Rs 37.50 cr), not considered too big an expenditure.