Indian conglomerate Reliance Retail, which inked the rights to sell U.S. apparel brand Gap in India last year, on Friday opened Gap’s first store in the country, ahead of plans to roll out multiple stores for the international retailer in next 12 months.
Located at Mumbai’s Infiniti Mall, Malad, the new Gap store marks the brand’s re-entry into the Indian market after it severed ties with its former partner Arvind in 2020.
In July last year, Reliance Retail Limited entered a long-term partnership with Gap Inc., to bring the American fashion brand to India. Since then Gap has been made available across 50 shop-in-shops apart from retailing on Reliance Retail’s fashion-focussed e-commerce platform Ajio.
“Reliance Retail now initiates the second phase of the launch with the new Gap store in Infiniti Mall. The expansion of Gap’s India presence will include a series of freestanding store openings across the country in the coming months,” the two said in a statement.
A second store will open in Guwahati later this month, followed by stores in Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, said a top executive at Reliance Retail Limited, told the Mint.
Overall, the retailer will open 50 stores in the next 12 months.
“We believe that there is a huge nascent market for Gap in this country. They’re launching today, I think we will spread it across India over the next one or two years,” Akhilesh Prasad, President & CEO, Fashion and Lifestyle, Reliance Retail Limited.
Reliance will open stores in “high double digits” over the next 12 months. “Ultimately the store count will be in three figures over the next two-to-three years,” Prasad added.
“We look forward to growing the Gap business across key international markets,” said Adrienne Gernand, Managing Director of International, Global Licensing and Wholesale at Gap Inc, back in July when the partnership was first announced.
“Partnering with regional experts, like Reliance Retail in India, allows us to deliver our relevant, purpose-driven brand to customers around the globe, while continuing to diversify our business portfolio through our partner-based model.”