Dabur's H&B Stores ties up with three foreign labs

Dabur India's health and beauty retail subsidiary H&B Stores has tied up with labs in Italy, the UK and Thailand for developing some of its private labels as it gears up to open its outlets from next month.

The company, which is investing Rs 140 crore in the first three years of operations, is aiming to break even within this period and targeting Rs 1,000 crore revenue.

"Private labels will be a strong focus for the company and occupy around 10 per cent of shelf space across the board in the stores. We have tied up with companies outside India for research and development of private labels," H&B Stores Chief Executive Officer Peter Baker told PTI.

He said the company would also be outsourcing some of the functions through contract manufacturing for products under the 'New U' brand from domestic players.

On revenue target, Baker said the company is expecting sales of Rs 1,000 crore. "We expect to break even in next three years," he added.

Dabur India announced its entry into the health and beauty retail market with the formation of H&B Stores as its fully-owned subsidiary that would invest Rs 140 crore by 2010 for setting up a chain of stores across the country.

Starting January next year, the company plans to set up 50 stores by third quarter of 2008-2009. This would be followed by 350 stores in five years and 1,000 outlets by its 10th year of operation.

"The stores, ranging from 1,500 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft in size, will offer products in categories such as beauty, health, babycare and personal care from 200 leading Indian and international brands, including Lo'real, Revlon, Chanel, Unilever, Lakme, Johnson & Johnson and Dabur along with the 'New U' private labels," Baker said.

The company is targeting women as customers in the age group of 16-45 and is also planning to rope in celebrities from sports and cinema as brand ambassadors.

Moving full steam head with plans to open its doors to customers by mid-January 2008, the firm has already appointed two expatriates at senior management positions. It has also hired a host of Indian managers to spearhead various business verticals.