Galeries Lafayette on Thursday announced it would strengthen its partnership with Indian group Aditya Birla to expand its presence in India. The French group 024 and 2025 wants to open two branches there.
In order to “pursue its international expansion strategy”, Galeries Lafayette have entered into an “exclusive partnership” with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), the first Indian fashion conglomerate to have reached $1 billion in sales and a network of 3,500 runs shops.
This partnership includes “the launch of a dedicated e-commerce platform” but also “the opening of two stores in Bombay and New Delhi, the country’s two capitals,” according to a press release from the group, whose history dates back to the year dating back to 1894.
The first 8,000 square meter store, located in the “commercial and cultural center of Bombay”, will open in 2024 for “a very young clientele receptive to new luxury trends”.
“Closely followed by the opening in New Delhi with a 5,500 square meter store in the heart of DLF Emporio, the city’s best-known premium shopping mall,” according to the group, which employs 11,000 people. It’s scheduled for 2025, a Galleries Lafayette spokeswoman told AFP.
“We are proud to expand our international presence in the heart of a market as prestigious and sophisticated as India, where we believe that Galeries Lafayette can benefit from strong growth potential,” said Nicolas Houzé, General Manager of Galeries Lafayette.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Managing Director Ashish Dixit hailed “a symbolic moment in the transition to maturity of the luxury market in India”, “a country now home to a generation of young, affluent and cosmopolitan consumers”.
According to Houzé, this partnership underscores Galleries Lafayette’s desire to “accelerate its international expansion, opening twenty stores by 2025, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.”
The group, which has 57 stores in France, 38 of which are franchises, is already present in Berlin, Beijing, Jakarta, Dubai, Doha, Shanghai and Luxembourg. Three more stores are planned to open in China in 2023, bringing the total to ten overseas stores, subject to openings in India.(AFP)
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.uk.