Betting big on the country’s economic growth and its positive impact on the retail industry, Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd, part of the $5-b Landmark Group of Dubai, is planning to invest another Rs 600 crore in the next three years to widen its footprint across cities.
Announcing the launch of the group’s new Lifestyle store at Phoenix Market City mall in Chennai, Managing Director Kabir Lumba told Business Line that even during the current slowdown, the retail industry has not reported a drop in sales.
No downtrading
“It remained flat, and there is no large-scale downtrading (consumers settling for lower-priced and smaller-quantity units) happening in the industry.” Lifestyle is confident that the growth trend registered in the last five-six years will resume soon, and hence the company will continue to expand its horizon by investing at least Rs 200 crore every year for another two to three years.
The company has been growing in India on an average 30 per cent in the last four-five years.
It closed the calendar year 2012 with a turnover of Rs 3,000 crore from Rs 2,500 crore in the previous year. “In 2011, we grew 25 per cent, and the year before that, it was close to 40 per cent,” he said. The multi-brand retailer came to India in 1999. It comprises Lifestyle stores (large-format department stores), Home Centre (home improvement stores) and Max (value fashion chain) along with international fashion apparel brands UCLA and Bossini.
At present, the group has 35 Lifestyle outlets, 15 Home Centres and 72 Max outlets across cities.
“This year alone, we will add another 8-9 Lifestyle stores, 20-25 Max and three Home Centre outlets to our network,” said Lumba. The new store at Phoenix Mall is spread across two floors, encompassing 70,000 sq. ft. of retail space., with different product categories including apparel, footwear, travel accessories, toys, cosmetics, perfumes, home décor and furnishing.