Will convert 570 customer service centres into mini 'My Kalyan' stores for selling affordable diamonds
Global private equity major Warbug Pincus backed Kalyan Jewellers is targeting to close the current fiscal with over 100 showrooms in its portfolio. The company has a network of 79 exclusive showrooms in India and West Asia, and it plans to open 22 stores this year, of which four have been added at an investment of Rs 175 crore.
Another area of focus will be selling affordable diamonds, for which the company is in the process of converting its 570 customer service centres into mini 'My Kalyan' stores.
Commenting on the new store openings, T S Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers said that a foray into the East India region has been made with a showroom in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. "We have consolidated presence in the National Capital Region (NCR) with two showrooms in Gurgaon and Noida. We now have a total of five exclusive showrooms in the NCR region and a total of nine showrooms in North India including Jalandhar and Amritsar," he said adding that of the 22 new showrooms, nine will be opened in the Gulf region.
Funding the expansion, he said, will be through a combination of money raised from private equity investment, internal accruals and debt. "We are targeting 30% growth in topline to Rs 13,000 crore and enhancing the distribution network by 30% in the year," he said adding that there are plans to ramp up manufacturing operations and have India's biggest production house by 2017.
Kalyan has been present in the UAE market since 2013 and has been expanding rapidly to cater to the growing needs of the strong South Asian diaspora. In fact, the company has added a store in UAE taking the overall showroom count to 10 stores there. And while it is present in the Kuwait market, the company will soon be looking to launch in Qatar by opening six showrooms.
Investments being made in the UAE market, according to Kalyanaraman, is in line with the buoyant demand in the Gulf region. "We expect our international operations to contribute up to 10% of our revenues by the end of this financial year," he said.
Headquartered in Thrissur (Kerala), Kalyan Jewellers has been on an aggressive expansion drive and has earmarked Rs 800 crore for expanding its distribution network. The company had recently invested Rs 200 crore in a 40,000 square feet showroom in Chennai that features world's largest gold and diamond jewellery collection. It was also the single largest investment by any jeweller in a single showroom across the country.
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