Aditya Birla to open stores in Tier 4 and 5 cities to tap into emerging market

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 27, 2019

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited aims to expand its value fashion brand Style Up into more tier 4 and 5 locations and open 10-12 more stores in 2019. 

After opening a further 10-12 Style Up stores, Aditya Birla will be at a point from which it can launch a full-scale retail expansion for the fashion chain, Aditya Birla’s managing director Ashish Dikshit told Mint. Style Up currently has 16 stores across India in rural locations including Deoria, Robertsganj, Bhabua, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Gopalganj, and Gulbarga.

“As a company we have a long-term vision of being able to address consumer segments across various price points in this country," said Dikshit. “When we look at what we already have today, we find that most of our portfolio lies between mid-premium to premium segment but when we look at where the consumers in India reside and the consumers we don’t reach, there is a very large market in tier 4 and 5 cities, and there are hundreds of such towns." The business aims to reach these rural customers with its Style Up chain.

Style Up was launched by Aditya Birla in 2018 as a large-format value fashion store. The chain retails a range of Indian traditional and casual wear for men, women, and children and garments are priced at around Rs 500 ($7.20) to Rs 600. The current average store size is between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet. Aditya Birla retails a range of clothing brands in India including Allen Solly, Peter England, Louis Philippe, and Van Heusen.