Future Group’s clothing business in the current fiscal will be Rs 12,000 crore, including fbb, Central formats
In an industry-first, Kishore Biyani promoted Future Group is taking its fast fashion apparel retail brand 'fbb' overseas.
The retailer has entered into an equal joint venture with Oman-based business conglomerate Khimji Ramdas (KR) LLC to open exclusive 'fbb' stores in Oman.
"We thought of getting into a region around us for exploring international forays and hence zeroed in on Oman. There are a lot of retailers who have come from that region into India and I think it's time for somebody to go in that region. That's the opportunity we have been looking for and have found the right partner to expand our business," said Kishore Biyani, group CEO, Future Group, adding that fbb will be nearly 70% of the clothing it sells currently in India.
The joint venture, KR Future Fashions LLC, will see the partners invest a total Rs 150 crore in the business. While 4-5 fbb stores will be launched initially, the plan is to take the number to 17-18 stores over a period of time. The first fbb store is likely to get operational in the first quarter next year. Interestingly, Biyani will also adopt a differentiated pricing strategy for the Oman market, wherein the apparel will be sold at prices that are lower than in India.
Nailesh Khimji, director, Khimji Ramdas LLC, said, "We want to add to our strengths, which is distribution and logistics in Oman, and get apparel retailing expertise from the Future Group to form a company that will be strong in both areas. Once we feel, Oman has achieved the expected key performance indicators (KPIs), we will start looking at expanding into the region including all the Gulf countries."
Future Group will also be leveraging KR Group's logistics and distribution expertise (in Oman and Gujarat) to sell its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products there – KR LLC operates 75 supermarkets under brands like SPAR, Khimji's Mart etc while also distributing products from P&G, Britannia, Amul, etc. "We are looking at adding Future Group's food and FMCG brands on our distribution network as well," said Khimji.
The overall plan is to eventually expand the apparel retail operations as well as FMCG distribution across the GCC and MENA region in the years to come.
Biyani sees the fashion space as a huge opportunity in and outside India and hence started looking at markets including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and UAE for the international foray. By next year, the company is targeting to sell close to 30 crore garment pieces and has a target of selling 100 crore garment pieces over the next four to five years.
"That can only happen if we spread our wings. We currently operate in 27 out of 29 states in India. I believe, foraying into the UAE region is a huge opportunity and we will use this as a stepping stone to enter other geographies like Africa," Biyani said, adding that the group's clothing business in the current fiscal will be around Rs 12,000 crore, including fbb, Central and other apparel retailing formats, and it can touch around 50,000 crore once the target of 100 crore garment pieces is met.
STITCHING GROWTH
- Future Group’s clothing business in the current fiscal will be Rs 12,000 crore, including fbb, Central formats
- It can touch around 50,000 crore once the target of 100 crore garment pieces is met
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