Lacoste to hop on the franchise brandwagon

French brand, Lacoste, has aggressive plans for India expansion and the brand is now all set to grow via the franchise route across India. The Lacoste brand, a symbol of relaxed elegance, was created in 1933 by famous tennis champion René Lacoste. The crocodile logo embodies style and spirit of this champion.

Rajesh Jain, CEO & Director, Lacoste India, says: “Time is right for us. We seek likeminded people and location should be right. In the next four years, we look forward to take the count to 90 with 20-25 franchise stores. Our target cities for expansion will be Surat, Kochi, Lucknow and Jalandhar. We have now formalised our franchise model for the brand.

Lacoste has clothing, footwear, leather goods, perfumes, eyewear and watches under its umbrella. Lacoste India is a strategic alliance between Lacoste and Sports and Leisure Apparel Limited (SLA). The SLA has the exclusive rights to manufacture Lacoste branded garments in India and distribute/market Lacoste branded garments in India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The SLA has exclusive rights to distribute/ market Lacoste Branded Footwear in the country and Maldives.

Established in 1993, the Indian market is an extremely important market for the Lacoste system. The brand is worldwide focusing on the emerging markets of the world- China, Brazil and India- and is committed to build the brand further in the Indian market.

Currently, the brand has 45 POS pan India, including one at Maldives, and is covering 15 cities in India.