Damas Opens 10th Store in India: Plans for 100

Dubai-based global jewelry retailer Damas has accelerated its entry into the Indian market, opening its 10th store, this one in Pune. Besides its flagship Bangalore store, which opened in 2005, to test the market, the company only launched its next phase of expansion in mid-2006. It now also has a presence in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad.

“We plan to open 19 stores by the end of March 2007, moving up to about 30 by Diwali 2007 and reaching 100 in the next few years,” says Anaggh Desai, CEO of Damas India. The outlets will be both stand alone stores in either malls or high street locations, as well as independent outlets in chain stores. The prime focus in the first 15 months of the roll-out will be on 12 to 14 metro areas and mini-metro areas across the country.

Damas has already teamed up with Shopper’s Stop, and it will have a presence in that chain in 16 different locations across the country by end of 2007.

The stores will offer Damas’ own in-house brands such as Huzoor, Harmony, Al Mantorah, Dibla, Damas Solitaire and Varotti, as well as a range of jewelry from different manufacturers based on designs created by its team of designers and meeting the quality standards it follows internationally. The stores will also stock some international jewelry and watch brands which are retailed globally by Damas.

According to Desai, the jewelry will be affordable and wearable, catering to every segment of society with options at different price points. While the Damas Kids range will start from Rs 600 ($13.50), diamond jewelry will cater to both “lifestyle and serious jewelry shoppers” with prices ranging from Rs 2000 ($45) to a few hundred thousand rupees. “Besides,” he added, “we also stock brands of other companies for which we believe there is good demand – and are already retailing.” Those brands include Nakshatra (manufactured by a joint venture of three Indian DTC Sightholders) and Asmi (manufactured by Gitanjali group).

The average investment in each outlet will be approximately Rs 60 -70 million ($1.35 – $1.58 million), with the minimum at Rs 45 million ($1 million) for the smaller outlets covering 300-400 sq ft. The cost can reach Rs 130 -140 million ($2.9 - $3.16 million) for the larger stores spanning 10,000 sq. ft. and larger. According to reports, Damas is looking at a turnover of Rs 40 million ($9 million) in India’s fiscal 2006-07, rising to Rs 1.4 billion ($31.6 million) in 2007-08 and eventually surpassing Rs 6 billion ($135.5 million).

Established in 1907, Damas is a leading jewelry retail chain with a network of more than 285 stores across four continents and 16 countries, including the US, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, Maldives, Turkey and Egypt.

Damas LLC Dubai already has a presence in India through D’damas, a 50:50 joint venture with the Gitanjali group. Desai said that the two operations are not really competitors, and occupy somewhat different slots in the retail space, with D’damas retailing its many sub-brands through traditional jewelry retail outlets besides its own stores, and even reaching the smaller cities and towns across the country. “Both have potential to expand as they are catering to segments that are growing very fast,” he said.