Arvind Lifestyle Brands, which has signed a long term franchise agreement to bring American speciality retailer GAP to India, opened the second GAP store in the country, in Bengaluru’s Orion Mall.

The first flagship store spanning 10,000 sq ft opened in New Delhi this May.

“GAP is a well-known, aspirational brand in India that enjoys a huge fan following and presents a large revenue proposition for us. While our stated numbers are ₹500 crore over the next four-five years, which we think we will definitely achieve; we see GAP presenting a much larger revenue opportunity of ₹1,000 crore in the next five years,” Suresh J, MD & CEO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd, told BusinessLine .

Known for denims

Seven more stores will open in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru by March 2016, taking the total store count to nine and the company plans to ramp up its footprint to 33 stores in five years at a cost of ₹10 crore per store, where the average size of a store is between 8,000 sq ft and 10,000 sq ft.

Globally, GAP is known for its denims. Forty per cent of the apparel in GAP stores in India will consist of denims.

Denim and non-denim apparel for men, women, children and babies will be available at GAP stores with price points starting from ₹799 for women’s tops, ₹999 for men’s tees, ₹2,300 for shirts, ₹2,699 for jeans, dresses for women up to ₹5,000.

Positioned as a mass premium brand, GAP, which will fit in between licensed premium brands of Arvind such as Calvin Klein, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger and mid-level brands such as Arrow and US Polo, is expected to further strengthen Arvind’s men’s wear and kids wear portfolios.

“We want to be the No. 1 player in speciality men’s wear and kids wear by 2019 and are therefore, building a portfolio of brands that will get us to that position,” said Suresh.

Domestic apparel market

Last month, Arvind brought America’s largest speciality retailer of children’s apparel and accessories — The Children’s Place (TCP) to Indian consumers, with the opening of its first 2,500 sq ft store in Bengaluru.

The Indian fashion apparel market is pegged at ₹2,50,000 crore and is growing at eight per cent year-on-year.

“The per capita consumption of apparel in the US is $400, in China it is $180 and in India it is just $60. So, there is huge room to grow the market,” said Suresh.

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