Lifestyle denim brand Lee Cooper has opened its first store in Chandigarh, with plans to open around 25 outlets throughout the country by 2008-09.
The Chandigarh outlet is a standalone store and covers an area of around 4,000 square feet. It will retail all the premier brands from the company’s portfolio.
Confirming the developments to Indiaretailing, Ameet Panchal, CEO, Lee Cooper India, said: “Chandigarh has emerged as a promising market for us, as the aspiration and affluence levels have grown substantially. As part of our efforts to have a pan-India presence, we will be opening around 25 more stores in this year.”
Lee Cooper is present in India through a joint venture between Future Group and Lee Cooper International, and is aiming a turnover of Rs 180-Rs 200 crore from Indian operations in the next two years.
The company has planned to expand through the northern region including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, in order to raise its market share. “We have plans to open our stores, ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, in Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Shimla,” Panchal informed. Presently, the company has 31 stores across the country.
Speaking about the expected revenues, Panchal said, “We are looking to do a business that will earn 80 per cent more revenues than the last year.” Last year, the company touched a turnover of close to Rs 100 crore.
At the moment, the company has no plans to introduce exclusive stores for its value segment sub-brand, Famous Basics. “We have no such plans as of now as the brand is retailed through our regular outlets,” informed Panchal.
– Satrajit Sen
