Italy's Monnalisa to enter India through franchise

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 26, 2018

The Italian children’s wear brand Monnalisa will enter India with FranGlobal later this year with the opening of their first store in New Delhi.

Monnalisa plans to open their first Indian children’s wear store in New Delhi, which will be their first in the country, by September 2018.

"Monnalisa plans to open seven stores in India in top metro cities in the next five years,” said Venus Barak, the CEO of FranGlobal who Monnalisa have partnered with for the expansion. “Monnalisa has inked a pan-India contract with expansion plans in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata with FranGlobal with total deal size of more than Euro 4 million," Barak added.

Monnalisa will be represented by FranGlobal in India and PDM University has been appointed as the master franchisee for Monnalisa. As part of the deal, Monnalisa clothing will be imported and sold in India through exclusive business outlets (EBOs).

"We plan to open [the] first Monnalisa store in Delhi by September this year. Euro 4 million investment will go in setting up stores, inventory and marketing of the brand," said Chitresh Lather, the CEO of PDM University. The deal marks Monnalisa’s second attempt to enter India after signing a licence agreement with another company in 2006 that later fell through.  

The Monnalisa brand was founded by Piero Lacomoni and Barbara Bertocci in 1968 and is based in Arezzo, Italy. The brand has stores in 65 countries, caters to children and teenagers, and is priced in the entry to luxury section of the market.