Kiabi, the French affordable apparel brand present in 15 countries, is in talks to enter the Indian market, people aware of the development said.
The brand is owned by The Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM), the holding company of the Mulliez family, which also controls Auchan supermarket, Decathlon and around a dozen other retail brands.
The company’s global team visited India recently, to explore retail space and also visited some premium malls in the national capital Delhi.
“The company had initiated the discussion to enter India market pre-pandemic but covid slowed down the process. They have now appointed a consultant to facilitate India entry,” said one of the people quoted above.
The brand is looking for large-format stores in metro cities.
In the past India’s consumption structure was skewed over a narrow base of rich consumers accounting for a large portion of the market, according to consumers. However, now the opportunity for value formats and value brands is expanding due to the broadening of the economy across many more cities and the impact reaching further down the income ladder.
As the world’s second most-populated country, India is an attractive market for apparel brands, especially with youngsters increasingly embracing western-style clothing. According to a CBRE’s report, international brands such as Tim Hortons, Victoria’s Secret, and Uniqlo continued to expand during Jul-Dec ’22, despite global headwinds.
