Wills Lifestyle mulls pan India expansion via franchising

Wills Lifestyle, a leading apparel brand of ITC is on an expansion spree. The brand aims at widening its network across metros and tier II cities in particular. Presently, Wills Lifestyle has 95 stores in total and plans to open 60 stores in smaller cities, in the next three years to expand its retail footprint in India.

Atul Chand, CEO, ITC Wills Lifestyle Retailing Division says:  “We have executed the plans to expand the retail footprint with the addition of 20 stores each year for the next three years. We are looking forward to harness the growing business opportunities that we will encounter in future. Tie up with Franchise India will help us achieve our expansion plans.

“We wish to add about 10-15 franchisee operated stores every year besides company operated stores. We wish to seek support from the franchisee to drive the business and give regular feedback on consumer taste and preferences,” says Vineet Haralalka, Retail Operations, ITC Ltd. The requirement in terms of area is above 1000 sq ft and in terms of investment is above Rs.55 lakh.

“We were prompted to choose the franchise route for scaling up our operations at a fast pace. It will help us in procurement of local knowledge from the partner about local trends and consumption patterns,” informs Haralalka.

Wills Lifestyle is the premium apparel retail chain of ITC- one of the largest corporate houses of India. It houses three distinct brands; namely Wills Classic, associated with formal wear, Wills Sport, known for casual wear and Wills Clublife, dealing in club and party wear. The brand forms a lucrative destination for the fashion conscious who wish to stay updated with international fashion in India. The brand has been established for over 14 years catering to the needs of Indian consumer by providing a delightful shopping experience through world-class ambience, customer facilitation and clearly differentiated product presentation.