Tata Group-owned affordable fashion brand Zudio is on an aggressive expansion spree and is planning to add around 130 stores this calendar year, according to two people familiar with the development.
One of them said Zudio has so far opened around 350 stores and the planned expansion all over the country in 2023 will take the store-count to slight shy of 500.
Trent did not respond to an email seeking comment.
“Zudio is expanding very aggressively,” said the second person familiar with the development.
Zudio is spearheaded by Trent Ltd., Tata’s retail venture that also operates the Westside department store chain and Landmark bookstores. The company also has two joint ventures with Spain’s Inditex SA to run Zara and Massimo Dutti labels in India.
“Zudio has been a huge success out of Tata’s retail ventures,” said a top executive of a global fashion and lifestyle brand asking not to be named. “A lot of competitions are watching its success and are trying to replicate the model.”
The seven-year-old Zudio brand has played a key role in the conglomerate’s retail business. It made a robust contribution in the sales of the BSE-listed Trent, when the retail arm reported a stellar revenue growth of 61% to Rs 2,171 crore in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared to the same quarter a year ago. For the same quarter ending December, Trent’s net profit jumped 21% to Rs161 crore compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Tata said it added more than 90 Zudio stores in the first nine months of fiscal year 2023. Meanwhile, Trent also operates more than 200 Westside stores nationwide.
Banking on the success, Tata is now shifting into higher gears for Zudio and expanding even faster, the sources said.
Zudio sells apparel for men, women and kids, beauty products, loungewear that is priced attractively below Rs 1,000. For example, women can buy kurtas for as cheap as Rs 299, dresses for Rs 699 and tops for Rs 399. For men a T-shirt starts at Rs 199 and a polo T-shirt for Rs 399, according to its website.
IndiaRetailing had reported in February that Zudio had opened a store in Pune’s Amanora mall. The 11,000 sq ft store is located on the ground floor of the mall. Read more about it here.
