An arm of Abu Dhabi based LuLu Group, Tablez India has entered into a master franchisee agreement with US children retail brand Toys 'R' Us. The agreement will assist US brand to expand its business in India and Sri Lanka. Tablez will be opening the outlets of the brand with a massive investment of Rs 570 crore.
In the next 10 years, Tablez will be installing around 65 outlets across the length and breadth of the country. Speaking about the deal, Adeeb Ahmed, MD, Tablez said that company will open the first store in Bengaluru next year and it is in talks with three developers and will close the deal by the end of this month. The first store will be full-fledged experiential store and looking at some 15,000-20,000 sq ft carpet area. The brand comes with two formats Toys 'R' Us and Babies `R' Us. Toys `R' Us operates more than 850 eponymous and Babies `R' Us stores in North America and its products are sold at 1,000 inter-stores in 37 countries.
With this development, LuLu Group, that operates around 130 hypermarkets in 21 countries in Middle East, Asia and Africa, will be adding another feather in its cap. Company's commitment is 65 stores in the next 10 years but it feels if the present market trend continues, the firm should be able to close that in the next eight years. Company also has the licence to sell those brands online in India and is planning to have dedicated e-commerce site, Ahmed added further.
On the other hand, Toys 'R' Us arch rival, Hamleys has teamed up with Reliance Retail and has jointly installed its 22 outlets in various parts of the country. Commenting on the competition, Ahmed opined, “Hamleys does not sit in the bracket where we are looking at. We are looking at the mass side of the market.” Elaborating further on the pricing structure, he added that major chunk of brand’s toys and baby products will fall under the price cap of Rs 200-1000.
