Max Fashion is strengthening its foothold in South India. The retail store plans to expand its presence in Bengaluru by 15-20 per cent over the next 12-18 months. According to Sumit Chandna, President, Deputy CEO of Max Fashion, Landmark Group, the retail firm currently has a store footprint of approximately 42 stores in Bengaluru and looks to add another 5-6 stores in the coming year.

Sumit calls the South an important market for Max, adding, “The South market has been more traditional. Firstly, the number of SKUs in the South and West is relatively higher than in the North and East. Secondly, as a Bangalore-based company that started here, it’s natural that we have expanded more aggressively in this region than anywhere else,” he said.

Max Fashion’s current southern retail footprint includes 71 stores in Karnataka, 74 stores in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and 64 stores in Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, the brand operates 68 stores, including in Trichy, Salem, Pondicherry, Erode, Coimbatore, and several district headquarters. Sumit outlines his expansion plans for Tamil Nadu: “Currently, we have 8 stores in Coimbatore and believe we can add another 3 to 4 stores there. Similarly, we plan to continue expanding by adding stores to 3 to 4 more district headquarters in the region.”

He adds, “Expansion is the lifeblood because that’s how you grow inorganically, and a large portion of my business actually comes from tier two and tier three cities.” The retail brand has a presence in 18 tier-2 cities and 87 tier-3 cities in the South.

The company has experienced like-for-like growth over the past year, with healthy single-digit sales growth from its brick-and-mortar stores compared to its online channel. Looking ahead, Sumit expects the growth to continue, emphasising that a significant portion of this growth will depend on how effectively Max can integrate its stores with its online platform.

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