Reliance Retail to augment its apparel business venture is in talks with world’s largest retail chain, US-based Gap Inc. for bringing their mid-premium brands – ‘Gap’ and ‘Banana Republic’ to India.
Gap Inc has been talks with other retail Indian players but in Reliance Retail, they have a better synergy as Reliance plans in the apparel segment are on a grand scale with a pan-India presence.
Earlier, big international apparel retailers such as Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger, Esprit, Louis Vuitton, FCUK, Lee Cooper, Escada and Dunhill have entered the Indian market though franchise route and single-brand retail.
Globally, Gap’s business is mainly through direct retailing but off late it has adopted franchising in some Asian countries. For Gap, the entry won’t be new to them since it sources significant proportion of its apparel from Indian companies. via