From a small store managed by JD Sahni, to a Rs 125 crore company today, Ritu Wears is all set to touch Rs 400 crore within a year and an ambitious Rs 1,000 crore by 2011-12. This inspiring success story kicked off the session “Those who dare to dream big”.
Speaking about expansion plans, Samir Sahni, Ritu Wears, said, “We will be opening 10 major stores in North India by 2009. In the immediate future, we will open a store in Amritsar with 40,000 square feet area. Thereafter, we move into various cities in the North including Panipat, Meerut and Moradabad, with an intention of targeting central, eastern and western India eventually.”
Ritu Wears’ biggest store, spread across 50,000 square feet, is situated in Rohini, Delhi. The store has 11 categories including men’s clothing, women’s clothing, footwear, timewear, lingerie, home, and toys. At present, the company has 3 stores in Delhi and 2 in NCR.
Sahni said that the strategy for venturing into tier II and III cities will be different from that adopted for metros. He also informed that the percentage of towns with population exceeding one million (35 at present) will increase from 10.2 per cent to 14.4 per cent by 2025. These growing towns will require more retailing space and formats and this is what Ritu Wears is trying to cash in on.
Session continued with another much-talked-about story of Subhiksha, the brainchild of R Subramanyan. Shashi Kant SS, president, Subhiksha, gave glimpses of the company’s journey, strategy and challenges that it faced. In all, session inspired retailers to aspire big and churned out some common points to fight for, and retain, their presence in this competitive retailing environment.
