Wills Lifestyle moves into smaller cities

New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) Garments and accessories retailing division of ITC Ltd, Wills Lifestyle, is strengthening its foothold in smaller towns, including Siliguri, Raipur, Indore, Varanasi and Guwahati.

''The retail landscape is changing in the country. New markets are being explored. There is a lot of scope of business in the tier II and tier III cities, hence we are penetrating into smaller cities,'' Atul Chand Vice-President (Marketing and Retail) ITC's Lifestyle Retailing told UNI.

The company will increase the number of outlets from it current 20 stores to 50 over the next two years in the smaller cities. Wills Lifestyle which is currently present in 15 will expand to 30 by 2009.

''We are opening stores at places like Siliguri, Raipur, Indore, Varanasi, Guwahati, Mangalore, Nagpur and many more,'' Mr Chand said.

Wills is present in smaller cities, including Ludhiana, Surat, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Trivandrum.

''Fashion is getting into mainstream. The population is affluent and they have money to spend on designer wears,'' said Mr Chand.

Wills lifestyle which at present has seven stores in the national capital will increase it to 15.

The company also plans more than double its the number of stores across the country from current 40 to around 100 over the next two years.

The company is moving at a faster pace and witnessing annual growth of 30 per cent, said Chitranjan Dhar, Divisional Chief Executive ITC's Lifestyle Retailing.

Maximum sales of this lifestyle brand comes from casual wear.

''Casual wear contribute close to 40 per cent of our sales,'' he said.

UNI