Celio, the renowned French menswear brand, is set to significantly expand its retail footprint in India. The company plans to open over 100 new stores nationwide within the next two to three years. Satyen Momaya, CEO of Celio Future Fashion, emphasized that the expansion strategy aims not only to strengthen its presence in existing markets but also to tap into emerging markets across India. Currently, Celio operates 65 stores in 25 cities across the country.
Direct retail is one area where the company feels it has tremendous scope for growth. Already, the company has identified 40 malls and nine high streets in its existing markets to open about 50 new stores in these areas. It is also looking at smaller, tier-two and tier-three cities and plans to add another 50 to 60 stores in these regions.
The top 11 cities account for 75 per cent of Celio’s business. The South, which remains the biggest market for the brand currently will continue to be a focus area, then comes growth in the North, West, and East. Particularly, Celio will look at North India for its retail expansion and it will focus on Delhi NCR, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
Along with the brick-and-mortar growth, Celio is also working to improve its multi-channel approach. E-commerce currently generates 7% of the company’s revenue through platforms such as Myntra, Ajio, and Amazon. This figure is expected to rise to 12-14% in the coming years as the brand continues to strengthen its online presence.
The third move is increasing local capacity for manufacturing as Celio looks to decrease its imports. Currently, 50% of the brand’s products are manufactured in India through third-party vendors, with the remaining portion imported. Starting next year, Celio plans to increase local sourcing to 60% of its product range, while reducing imports to 35-40%. Additionally, the company has significantly ramped up its sourcing of global products from India, with the proportion rising from less than 1% three years ago to 7% today. Celio India functions as a subsidiary of the French brand and is a joint venture with the Future Group and the company expects its Indian operations to garner between 5-8 percent of the overall revenue for it.