Gap ties up with Arvind Lifestyle for retail stores in India

Arvind Ltd, India's largest integrated textile and apparel maker, said today that its subsidiary Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd has tied up with US-based multinational clothing and accessories retailer Gap Inc to open Gap stores in India.

"We have tied up with Gap to bring the iconic American retailer to India. The first stores are expected to open in Mumbai and Delhi - starting with Gap's Summer 2015 collection for adults, kids and babies,'' Arvind's chairman & managing director Sanjay Lalbhai told reporters in Mumbai.

"Arvind plans to open about 40 franchise-operated Gap stores in India at an estimated cost of around Rs10 crore each," Lalbhai added.

"We have a long and successful association with Gap as their vendor partner. Now we extend this partnership to retail and bring Gap stores to India," Lalbhai said.

"Gap has a huge recall in India and is a favourite of many Bollywood stars. Our goal is to leverage this huge awareness, to quickly scale up and build a large business for Gap Franchise in India," Arvind Lifestyle Brands MD & CEO J Suresh said.

Gap Inc is a leading global retailer offering clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, children, and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta, and Intermix brands. Gap Inc has over 350 franchise stores along with over 3,100 company-owned stores. The Gap brand now has a presence in nearly 90 countries.

"India is an emerging, vibrant market and an important next step in our global expansion strategy. As the world's second most populous country with more than 1.2 billion people, India represents an important platform to bring American casual style to consumers around the world," Gap Global President Steve Sunnucks said.

Arvind has a portfolio of owned and licensed brands and retail formats. The company's own product brands include Flying Machine, Colt, Ruggers, Excalibur amongst others, while its licensed product brands have big global names like Arrow, Gant, Izod, Elle, Cherokee and US Polo.

It has a joint venture in India with global major Tommy Hilfiger. Company also has retail brands like Megamart, The Arvind Store, Club America, Next and Debenhams.

Last week Arvind announced its foray into e-commerce with custom clothing brand 'Creyate'.

Arvind Internet Ltd will be the vehicle to enable Arvind's e-commerce vision to extend brand experiences to the online world.

"We are all set to be a leading consumer lifestyle player in the digital space by engaging in several business models that can be scaled up globally. Arvind sees e-commerce as a key growth driver for the group and we aim to be a Rs1,000 crore-plus business in three years," Arvind executive director Kulin Lalbhai said.