Our Bureau

Pune , May 26

Pune has become the eighth centre in the country for the presence of Albeli Fashions, a women's garment brand.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Sharad Nawalgaria, Managing Director, said that the Fi retail store launch was also the first of its kind venture from the Albeli fold in Maharashtra.

Pune would have two such stores and the expansion in the State would include Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur, and couple of outlets in Mumbai.

Expansion

This expansion would take a couple of years and would require an investment of Rs 60 lakh per centre. The company is targeting 40 retail outlets across the country and the overall investment it has earmarked is about Rs 35 crore.

Mr Nawalgaria said that Fi commences in Pune with its fall summer prêt line, offering a wide range clothing line from unstitched and stitched salwar suits to mix-n-match Indo-western ensemble along with sarees and chic designer blouses.

The store at the Nucleus mall, has about 1,000 sq ft area and the second one would be a shop-n-shop at the Piramyd mall.The prices would be upwards of Rs 800 for suits and Rs 5,000-10,000 for the saree range. The brand currently has outlets at Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangalore, Indore, and Guwahati.

Mr Nawalgaria said that the company would be ramping up its production at its unit in Kolkata.

Currently, it has about 10,000 craftsmen under its fold from in and around Kolkata and has a space of 15,000 sq ft.

It would be adding another 10,000 sq ft in the same premises at an investment of Rs 5 crore and make it operational by next year. The villagers take the cloth and bring back the finished goods, which are then assembled at the Kolkata unit.

Eyeing growth

On the financials, Mr Nawalgaria said that the company recorded turnover of Rs 55 crore and was looking at massive growth from the retail segment.

Currently, about 10 per cent contribution comes in from the retail segment; it is targeting 250 per cent growth this year.

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