It has taken a while for Gap to reach the market in India, but the American apparel and accessories brand is finally going to open its first branch in Delhi, on May 30, joining brands like Zara and Marks & Spencers in a growing market for foreign investors, according to Quartz India.
For decades, clothes from Gap have been sourced out in this region, as evidenced in its garments' "Made in India" tags. But the company had to wait a bit to finally set up shop locally, as they had to look for the right business partner.
Gap found this through Arvind Lifestyle, which already operates 1,000 stores in over 192 cities and is a subsidiary of the Arvind Group, a textile and real estate company. Arvind Lifestyle is also credited for bringing Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger to the Indian market, according to the Quartz story.
"We have entered into a 20-year-long partnership with Arvind Lifestyle and we see ourselves doing well in the Indian market," Stefan Laban, the senior vice president of Gap, told Business Insider India.
With the Delhi Gap opening this weekend, the brand is pushing to open about 40 more stores in the next five years in and around India.
"We are looking at opening 10 stores...by mid of next year. Store openings will depend on space availability, but we plan to focus on Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for Gap's first 10 stores," said J Suresh, the managing director and CEO for Arvind Lifestyle, according to Economic Times.
"International players feel that there's no right real estate in India. But we now have some 20-25 malls that are doing well in India. So the challenge could be getting space in those malls," Suresh added.
Just like Gap stores in the United States, the establishment in India will have the brand's entire clothing range and accessories for men, women and children.
"We are not the brand for the few, but the masses and have spent a lot of time formulating our pricing strategy after studying the market and our competitors. We feel good about our pricing as we are competitively priced," said Laban via Hindu Business Line.
