Tayal forays into luxury retail

The Tayal family, which has promoted companies such as Bank of Rajasthan and KSL Realty and Infrastructure, is foraying into high-end luxury retail with flagship store K Lifestyle. The Navin Kumar Tayal enterprise, Krishna Lifestyle Technologies, will promote the retail venture.

The BSE-listed KLTL will kick off the business with its newly set up 20,000 sq feet outlet at Lower Parel in Mumbai. The company will set up nearly 50 outlets ranging from 20,000 sq ft to 1 lakh sq ft in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Thane, Kolhapur, Silvassa, Wapi, Baroda, Amritsar, Ludhiana and so on in the next three years.

The company has tied up with global luxury brands such as Calvin Klein, Fendi, Kenneth Cole, Nike Vision, Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger to have a shop-in-shop concept in its outlets on a revenue sharing basis. The company had signed a few of the properties to begin with and would acquire the properties going forward, said Saurabh Tayal of K Lifestyle.

Tayal said that since luxury retailing was limited to five-star hotels in Mumbai, the outlets could attract global luxury brands.

"In five-star hotels, rentals are very high which is an issue with everybody. We charge only a percentage of sales which is preferred by brands," said Tayal.

The company is also planning to have cafeterias attached to the outlets.

KLTL is an integrated textile firm, which is engaged in spinning, knitting and garments. For the quarter ended March 31, 2007, the company posted sales of Rs 264 crore (Rs 2.64 billion).

In Mumbai, luxury retailing is mostly restricted to five-star hotels and stand-alone stores unlike other metros such as Bangalore and Delhi which have luxury malls. Atria Mall in Worli, Grand Hyatt hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace and Towers are the few places, which are engaged in luxury retailing in the city.

Another retailer Shoppers' Stop is planning to set up luxury stores under the brand, Verdi, in metros including Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. The stores, spread over 1.2 lakh sq feet each, will house most of the global brands as shop-in-shop concept.

Banking on the growing affluence and aspirations of the young Indians, global luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier and Gucci, Tag Heur, Espirit, Armani, Gabbana, Escada, Dunhill are betting big on India.

Analysts are also bullish about the concept of luxury retailing in the country. "There is an absolute shortage of space for luxury brands in the country. Foreign tourists always buy these brands here owing to lower prices than elsewhere," said retail analyst Susil Dungarwal.