By Shweta Thakur, IANS
New Delhi : Leading Indian leather accessories brand Hidesign will invest $6 million globally to open some 30 stores in some select countries over the next two years to give itself a major international push.
“We are going to open at least 30 outlets in international markets. We will be investing $200,000 on each store,” said Dilip Kapur, president of the company.
“We want to compete internationally and strengthen our brand identity. Both national and global markets are equally important for us and we will position our brand in both scenarios,” Kapur told IANS in an interview.
He said of the 30 retail outlets, five would be in South Africa, six in Russia, eight in China, three in the US, two in the UAE and six in some other selected countries.
The label will thus mark its presence in some major markets for high-end leather accessories and had recently come up with a retail account in Shanghai with an investment of up to $300,000.
Kapur said if his company’s Shanghai venture yields desired results then it might open over 30 stores in China, which, he said, was another market with a huge potential. The plans, then, will be altered to open 100 stores globally.
“The Chinese market is a tough one. Our target customers in that country are men as they don’t have much choice in the leather accessory section. We may face a tough time to woo women as they are extremely choosy.”
Speaking about his plans for India, Kapur said Hidesign recently opened its outlets in Noida and Gurgaon, both on the outskirts of the national capital, besides New Delhi. Investment made was Rs.5 million on each store.
“With the same amount of investment per store, we will open nine more retail shops by the end of 2008. Places like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore will have two more shops each, while Delhi, Chennai and Pune will get one each,” he said.
Hidesign was born in Pondicherry (now Puducherry) in 1978 as a one-man artisan workshop started by Kapur who began hand crafting leather bags, jackets and accessories for the export market.
The label, which offers a variety of products such as briefcases, handbags, computer bags, garments, wallets, belts and other personal and desktop accessories, will soon move on to second rung cities as well.
“If we get the right kind of place, we could also mark our presence in Tier II cities like Jaipur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Visakhapatnam by the end of next year,” he added.
It now plans to concentrate on improving the production quality and customer service. The brand may even withdraw its products from the shelves of premium retailers like Shoppers’ Stop and Westside.
The idea of having franchises doesn’t interest the label because the owner feels that it is difficult to create an international ambience and provide world-class customer services based on this model.