Amitabh and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to help in expansion plans.
By Prabhav Hiremath
MUMBAI: Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, have seen several brand associations with their name like Reid & Taylor, L’Oreal, Total Repair 5, Nestle Maggi, United Nations’ Polio Eradication campaign, Prestige Hawkins and Binani Cement to name a few. Their respective brand kitties grew by adding Kalyan Jewellers that has both the names as its brand ambassadors since couple of months, making public aware with the tagline ‘My Gold, My Right.’
Taking this star association ahead, the Kerala-based gold major Kalyan Jewellers has penned down an expansion plan in India and abroad with the help of the Bachchans. The chain has an impressive investment line-up of Rs. 1,000 to 1,250 crore to open up a total of 25 large retail stores by the next financial year. A single store will come up over a space 5,000 square feet with 100 employees manning it, increasing the company’s human resource to a total of 10,500 by 2015.
Company’s Executive Director, Ramesh Kalyanaraman has said his firm will open few stores before this year’s Akshay Tritiya festival, regarded as an auspicious day to buy or invest in gold.
“We want to strengthen our presence in northern, western and eastern India going ahead. Our focus is also on the Gulf market where there is a huge scope in terms of market, availability of products and customer base,” he said.
Fifteen out of the total 25 planned retails will be set up in India and the remaining 10 will be established across Gulf region, where 6 out of those 10 will come up before this Akshay Tritiya which falls on May 2nd, which he eyes as a good return on investment opportunity.
The jewellery major recently entered the international market on December 26th, 2013 by opening six shops in UAE. Kuwait market will see an additional of three retail outlets, two in Qatar and one each in Bahrain, Muscat and Oman by next fiscal.
According to Kalyanaraman, each of these new stores that will come up in India or abroad will cost Rs. 40 crore to 50 crore.