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Diesel making selective presence in India’s cities

Italian lifestyle brand Diesel, which has positioned itself as an "alternative to luxury", does not believe in opening stores on every street corner. It plans its showrooms to be "destination stores", which means not more than two to three stores in each city.

Thinking in terms of this strategy, Mumbai and Delhi will take on three stores each because of the large high net-worth population, while other cities will only have one or two stores, said Darshan Mehta, president and CEO of Reliance Brands.

The brand has a joint venture with Reliance Brands, a Reliance Retail initiative, which was formed in October 2008, a few months after Diesel called off its deal with Arvind Brands.

Diesel opened its first store at the Palladium Mall in Mumbai last month.