The Tata Group’s Trent plans to expand its premium fashion chain Westside by opening up to 100 stores annually, up from its current pace of 10–15 store openings a year.
Westside, which operates 300 stores and offers apparel, beauty products, home décor, footwear and accessories, plans to expand into northeastern India while strengthening its presence in major cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The brand is also focused on enhancing its fashion appeal to drive impulse purchases.
The expansion comes as Trent looks to strengthen Westside amid slowing growth at value-fashion chain Zudio, which faces increasing competition from Reliance Industries and the Aditya Birla Group. As of June 30, Zudio operated 982 stores, including seven in the UAE, after adding 19 net new stores during the June quarter. Consumer demand has also remained subdued due to inflation, macroeconomic uncertainty and limited retail space availability.
Earlier this year, Trent’s board approved raising Rs 2,500 crore to accelerate its retail expansion, with part of the funds allocated to Westside’s e-commerce and international business. The company aims to increase online sales to 10% of Westside’s revenue, up from around 6% in the quarter ended March 31.
Westside is also expanding the use of AI across product design, supply chain and warehouse operations. AI tools have increased the productivity of its approximately 50 in-house designers, enabling them to create 400–500 designs a week, compared to around 50 previously.
The brand is also targeting a reduction in production lead time for trend-led products to 30 days.
