On the road to extend its retail existence, Kolkata-based men’s lifestyle apparel brand Turtle has tied up with Dubai-based Landmark Group’s Lifestyle fashion store. To begin with, Lifestyle will retail Turtle products in three of their stores. Further, the company plans to open two stores every month this year under the brand Turtleworld concentrating towards tier II cities including Cochin, Udaipur, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar and others, revealed a top company official.
Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Amit Ladsaria, director, Turtle Ltd said, “We have tied up with Lifestyle starting with three of their stores. The franchisee model is successful. First, as local entrepreneurs understand local consumers; secondly, they bring in the entrepreneurial touch in store operation. Finally, the franchisees manage day to day operations, manpower, stock and dealing with customers. To add on, Turtle is being extremely aggressive on expanding its stores across the country. We plan to open two stores every month in tier II cities as of now.”
Turtle is a Rs 480 million company and offers shirts and trousers in formals as well as casual wear. It also offers accessories such as cufflinks, ties, socks, belts, wallets and innerwear. Recently the company has launched a range of jackets and suits this season. Styled at Milan studio, the range is available at prices of Rs 3,995 to Rs 8,995.
Talking about the effect of economic turmoil over the company’s turnover Ladsaria added, “Industry as a whole has suffered on inventory and cash related problems but since Turtle is on a growing stage and we offer value for money products, so recession has not affected us. We are also confident about achieving our target, expecting a turnover of Rs 750 million by March 2009.”
Meanwhile, Turtle has got 32 exclusive stores present in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Hissar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jorhat, Kolkata, Kolhapur, Lucknow, Meerut, Patna, Raipur, Silchar, Siliguri, Surat, Vadodara and Varanasi.
— Akansha Srivastava
