Raymond no longer ‘The Complete Man’, launches women wear

After being the leader in Indian apparel industry, Raymond has ventured into the women western wear market by launching a collection under its flagship ColorPlus brand.

With the proportion of working women increasing, especially in metros, the Indian western womenwear market is growing at 20% and is worth Rs. 800 crore. 

Raymond expects to open 175 Colorplus stores in next 3 years and expect Rs.150 crore revenue from womenwear segment. It will also launch a kids wear segment under ColorPlus Kids soon.

The share of apparel in overall business of Raymond is still just 6% and as such the company is diversifying into new categories and revamping existing ones.

Meanwhile, its joint ventures with foreign companies are not doing that well. Three of the total five are loss making putting strain on company’s bottomline. Also, it has to deal with reducing margins and high rental costs which may affect the growth of its retail stores.