Ryohin Keikaku Reliance India Pvt. Ltd., the Reliance-Muji JV believes that it is the right time to shift into higher gear and introduce larger stores with a bigger product range in the country
New Delhi: The Reliance Retail-Muji joint venture is now adopting an aggressive strategy in India and plans larger stores—some in the range of 20,000-22,000 sq. ft.—to showcase and stock a much larger and varied portfolio of products similar to what the Japanese retailer sells in several other markets, according to two people familiar with the plans.
One of the persons said the joint venture Ryohin Keikaku Reliance India Pvt. Ltd. is planning to open “significantly larger stores” in India compared to the current store sizes of around 4,000-5,000 sq. ft. to tap the growing demand for various consumer products that Muji sells.
Also, Ryohin Keikaku Reliance has hired Nazmul Haque as the new head of Muji in India, the two sources said. Until recently, Haque was the managing director of Grameen Uniqlo, a Bangladesh joint venture between Grameen Bank Group and Fast Retailing Co. of Japan. Grameen Uniqlo operated about one-and-a-half dozen Uniqlo-branded stores in Bangladesh.
“Now Muji has a new head for India and the company is scouting for 20,000-22,000 sq. ft. store spaces in a few prominent malls,” said the second person familiar with the plans.
A spokesperson for Reliance-Muji JV declined to comment on “speculative news”. IndiaRetailing sent an email on Thursday seeking comment on its latest plans.
In 2015, Reliance Retail’s upmarket brands arm Reliance Brands signed a joint venture with the Tokyo-based retailer to open Muji-branded stores in India.
“International expansion is of utmost priority at Muji and India is our next big Asian market with immense growth potential. India’s young, educated and cosmopolitan population gives Muji a ready cache of prospective customers.” Satoru Matsuzaki, president of Ryohin Keikaku had said in a statement at the time of signing the partnership with Reliance Brands.
However, Muji had a somewhat slower approach in India so far: the JV operates only three stores in India even after signing a partnership agreement eight years ago.
Ryohin Keikaku Reliance currently operates Muji stores in India in three prominent malls—two in Mumbai at Phoenix High Street and Jio World Drive and another one in Noida’s Mall of India. Post-pandemic, Muji had closed its Select Citywalk Mall store in Saket, New Delhi and another one at VR Mall in Bengaluru.
Comparatively, Muji operates more than 300 stores in mainland China, after having entered the country about a decade earlier than it made its debut in India in 2015.
Muji, the Tokyo-headquartered retailer sells functional and minimalist products. Muji items are designed simply and the company doesn’t believe in unnecessary ornamentation or decoration of its products. That appeals to a large global consumer base, who snap Muji’s products including apparel, notebooks, cosmetics, furniture, food items and household goods among other items. Muji also believes in the philosophy of not branding its products with a logo. This strategy appeals to a large chunk of consumers who are either fed up with excessive labelling by companies or people who shun brands and aspire to use or wear anonymous and generic products. The parent company’s name Mujirushi Ryohin itself means ‘no brand quality goods’ in Japanese.
There is a small but growing segment of consumers in India as well who shun over-the-top branding by retailers. The Reliance-Muji JV, therefore, believes that it is the right time to shift into higher gear and introduce larger stores with a bigger product range, a third person said.
He said Muji products are in general affordable in its home market of Japan but Muji in India has been positioned as a high-end label. It is unclear whether Reliance-Muji JV would tweak the pricing for India.
