Adarsh Gupta's New Venture To Open Hundreds Of Multi-Brand Stores

Former Liberty Shoes promoter Adarsh Gupta has floated a new start-up venture by the name of Hello Ten Brands, which will set up dozens of multi-brand stores in the coming months.

The venture plans to roll out 1,000 stores across the country within three years, Gupta said. "The stores will focus on specialised merchandise across fashion, footwear, wellness products and accessories," he said.

Gupta said the venture would convert various multi-brand outlets into Hello Ten stores and the company plans to set up about 50 stores by the end of 2016.

The market for branded footwears and apparels in India is estimated to be Rs 25,000 crore. The sector's share in e-commerce is expected to increase from 10 per cent to about 25 per cent by 2018.

The retail outlets will be franchisee-run, offering 10 categories of products including footwear, apparel, leather bags, wellness and personal care products on an 800 sq feet area. Liberty's share will be 20-25 per cent in every franchise.

Gupta said hundreds of multi-brand outlets (MBOs) all across India are on the verge of closure and his company would look at acquiring and rebranding them.

"The company intends to completely refurbish the existing outlets to the highest standards with unique display systems. We will provide simple solution for managing their inventory with lower investments," Gupta added.

Besides providing complete know-how to run the Hello10 stores, the company provides necessary proprietary training to operators.

"We are beginning with Karnataka, and then we will take this concept to other states. By the next financial year, we will have 200-250 stores in five states. After Bengaluru, we are eyeing Mysuru, Mangaluru, Manipal, and among others," Gupta said.