Experts in the industry indicate that numerous luxury and premium brands are actively pursuing quality retail-centric real estate spaces not just to extend their branded retail shops but also for establishing new offices.
Harish Bhatt, the chief operating officer of Titan Industries, shared insights on Hugo Boss luxury watches, which are currently being retailed by Titan through approximately 15 to 20 of the 250 World of Titan showrooms. In the future, these luxury watches will also be available in upcoming luxury retail malls, as well as premium departmental stores and high-end malls throughout India. He remarked, "We are open to selling luxury Hugo Boss luxury watches in luxury malls and premium departmental stores which provide an environment for accessible luxury watches. Besides this, luxury malls also provide scope for higher brand visibility."
Meanwhile, luxury and premium goods distributor Brand Marketing India Private Ltd (BMI), which is spearheaded by the Mumbai-based Murjani Group, has relocated from its four offices in Nariman Point, including one at The Trident in Mumbai, to the Metro theatre building as of February this year. In this new location, the Murjani Group has inaugurated a spacious 7,000 square feet office, aiming to secure high-quality real estate for its operations in Mumbai, as expressed by Shehzad Karachiwala from the Murjani Group.
BMI holds exclusive licensing rights to a slew of renowned global brands such as Gucci, Jimmy Choo, French Connection, Calvin Klein, La Perla, and Bottega Veneta. These brands are already featured in Mumbai’s Shoppers Stop, The Trident, and Vama, and will soon grace the luxury mall DLF Emporio in Delhi, as well as UB City in Bangalore.
As luxury retailers like Crossroads, Oberoi, and MBD Group aspire to unveil luxury malls shortly, the market is also witnessing new entrants like Armani and Miss Sixty striving for prime spaces in luxury malls.
Shubhranshu Pani, managing director of retail at Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, elaborated, “Luxury brands look for quality retail-centric real estate spaces. 5-star hotels do provide quality spaces, but such hotels obviously have their own agenda and the environment is based more on hospitality than retail. Moreover, 5-star hotel spaces are limited and do not offer much scope for expansion, or the introduction of a healthy brand mix. Currently, luxury brands still find value in occupying space in 5-star hotels and are retaining these. However, thanks to the advent of luxury malls such as UB City and DLF Emporio, they now have alternatives and are beginning to benefit from the re-loaded, focused retail experience.”