Popley and Sons plans expansion

Popley and Sons, the Mumbai-based Rs 450 crore jewellery manufacturer, is planning to double the retail space to three lakh square feet from 1.5 lakh square feet at present in the next three years at an estimated expenditure of Rs 200 crore.

As part of this expansion, the company would set up new retail stores and expand the existing ones.

At present, Popley has 17 stores (PoS) in India and approximately 10 in Dubai, which it plans to increase to 20 and 11 respectively by the end of the current year. It has already tied up a number of shopping malls in west Asia and Europe to increase its presence in these countries.

"Other than selling, positioning is the most important thing in franchisees and other retail stores which Popley is enjoying the best," said Rajiv Popley, Director, Popley Group.

The company is coming out with a wide range of jewellery items with the starting price of Rs 5,000.

The company is in talks with the world-renowned brands like Bregue, Blane Pain, Jaquet Droz, Leon Hatot for their exclusive sales permission in India.

"We are hopeful of getting permission very soon," Popley said. "Through this, we would be able to offer a wide range of options to customers under one roof," he added.

Indian business contributes roughly only 15 per cent of company?s turnover.

Through La Classique, the company is targetting upper class consumers who can spend for jewellery items and watches of price more than $1000 while Dia Time is the store where middle class consumers are targetted who have spending powers less than $1000.

The Popley's are also one of the first few luxury goods retailers to offer EMIs (equated monthly installments) on purchases of jewellery and watches from 3 to 12 months in association with leading banks like Citibank and ICICI.