Kirtilal Kalidas Jewellers Private Limited (KKJPL), a Coimbatore-headquartered manufacturer and retailer of premium diamond and gold jewellry, is planning to open 16 new retail outlets with an outlay of around Rs 320 crore.
Currently, the company has eight stores in the four southern states and one in Ludhiana, Punjab. By September, the company plans to open new stores at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
“We are now focusing on consolidating our backward operations by installing ERP and SAP, which is expected to be completed early next year. Post the consolidation, we are planning to open 6-7 stores every year till 2013, each with an investment of Rs 20 crore,” KKJPL chief operating officer, Kishore G Paramasivan, told Business Standard.
KKJPL had set up its first store in Coimbatore in 1939 and later expanded to other cities in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab in a phased manner. At present, it has five diamond-cutting and polishing units in Coimbatore.
The retail expansion would be funded through a mix of debt, internal accruals and promoters’ equity, he said, adding that a final decision is yet to be taken on going public.
The company, which is one of the major players in the Rs 10,000-crore diamond jewellry retail market in the country, had reported a 6 per cent decline in sales due to the economic downturn.
“Things have started picking up again, and we witnessed a 30 per cent growth since January this year,” Paramasivan said, while declining to reveal the company’s revenue figures.
