Ebony to foray into speciality retail segment

Ebony Retail has decided to foray into speciality retail. The company has furnishings, kids' wear, women's wear and health and beauty division.

According to Lalit Kumar, CEO of the company, the first home furnishing speciality store would be inaugurated in two weeks in NCR near Delhi.

The company is scouting for joint venture partnerships (both foreign and domestic) to strengthen its business model.

The company has six retail stores concentrated in north of India (Delhi, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Faridabad).

He added that after an extensive research of consumer behaviour in urban India they decided to roll out speciality store and deferred the expansion of Ebony Retail for another six months into other parts of India.

Ebony Retail, the retail arm of the $3 billion-DS Constructions group, is making a strategic move into specialty retailing. With the success of its departmental store business, Ebony is making significant investments to set up specialised retail formats to offer consumers more choice and value within a shopping vertical.

To begin with, Ebony is foraying into speciality retailing in the Home Improvement vertical which comprises furniture, furnishings and home décor products. Confirming this new initiative, Lalit Kumar said, "With the boom in housing and increase in the number of nuclear families, there has been an increased spending on home renovation amongst Indian consumers. They are now seeking complete and high-quality home improvement solutions all under one roof in a conducive retail environment and that is what we are aiming to deliver."

Ebony has indicated that it would be tying up with a leading global brand in order to provide world-class quality and cutting-edge contemporary styling to Indian consumers for the very first time.

The company has earmarked over Rs 120 crore for the next three years and has plans to set up 15-20 such retail outlets by the end of 2009. These stores would be 20,000-40,000 sq ft in size with interestingly designed themes and interiors. The first store is all set for launch in December 2007.