Spencer's ropes in Gautam Gambhir, to set up 100 BHPC stores

The retailer, which has kidswear brand Ladybird and youth oriented Marc Ecko under its portfolio in India, said it will launch new labels to enhance the portfolio of global brands and expand retail presence of the existing ones.

On its association with Gambhir, the company said the contract is for a period of two years. "Gautam is a perfect fit for BHPC. His personality is in -line with the attributes of the brand," RPG Enterprises Vice Chairman Sanjiv Goenka told reporters here.

He said the company plans to expand the portfolio of global brands by bringing more labels. "There will be more and more launches in the future in the 'casual fashion' category."

Spencer's that is the master licensee of the US casual apparel brand BHPC in India, will set up 100 exclusive BHPC stores by the end of next fiscal entailing an investment of up to 35 crore to be made by the company along with its franchisees.

"We currently have 14 BHPC stores, which will go up to 30 by the end of this fiscal. By the end of next financial year, we hope to have a total of 100 stores," Goenka said. According to Spencer's (Specialty Retail) President K Dasaratharaman, the new stores will be a mix of both franchisee-owned and company-owned. "One store on an average entails an investment of Rs 40 lakh," he added.

Dasaratharaman said the other two international brands, Ladybird and Marc Ecko, which are under the especialty retail division and is fairly new as compared to BHPC, will also see gradual expansion.

In August, the company had said its specialty retail division is expected to touch a turnover of Rs 500 crore from Rs 100 crore at present. With that the contribution of the specialty division to the overall turnover of Spencer's Retail will increase to up to 25 per cent in the next three years from 10 per cent at present. Last fiscal Spencer's Retail had a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore.