In a bid to expand its India operations, Japan CBM Corporation plans to have 100 Q & Q exclusive stores across the country by 2010. Meanwhile, its immediate target is to set up 20 stores across major towns by this fiscal. In the initial phase, the company will roll out stores in Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Chennai, Kochi and other tier II cities.
“Initially, we want to establish our footprints in tier II cities and then gradually in big markets like Mumbai and New Delhi. We are launching a new store in Secunderabad by this weekend and another store in Visakhapatnam in the next two weeks’ time,” a company spokesperson told Indiaretailing.com. The company plans to spend Rs 1 crore for retail expansion and is expecting revenue to the tune of Rs 5 crore in this fiscal.
Positioned as an affordable timewear brand (in the Rs 450-5,500 price bracket), Q & Q started its India trial in October 2006 from Bangalore. Currently, the brand is retailed through three exclusive stores and over 500 MBOs across the country. “We are available almost everywhere except in Mumbai and New Delhi, where we are sorting out some business problems. We expect to foray into these markets in the near future,” the spokesperson added.
Q & Q offers a range of about 800 wristwear collections for men, women and kids. The brand also offers clocks and fashion accessories like pendants, earrings, bangles and fingerings. “We launched our accessories line in February 2007. The business is picking and we plan to introduce more collections in the near future,” Indiaretailing was told.
Japan CBM Corp is a part of the Citizen group and sells about 20 million pieces annually across 150 countries. Asked about Citizen’s association with Q & Q brand, the spokesperson commented: “Both Citizen and Q & Q are separate brands with different business entities and targets. We don’t want to mingle ourselves with Citizen brand; our mission is to get more established than Citizen or any other similar brand.”
– Bangalore Bureau
