{"id":3199,"date":"2013-11-20T10:16:56","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T10:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/?p=3199"},"modified":"2013-11-20T10:27:18","modified_gmt":"2013-11-20T10:27:18","slug":"marks-spencer-plans-double-franchise-stores-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/marks-spencer-plans-double-franchise-stores-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Marks & Spencer plans to double franchise stores in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"M&S-Double-franchise-store-\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s biggest clothing retailer Marks & Spencer<\/strong> wants to convince India\u2019s young and trendy that it is fashionable too as it looks to offset slowing profit growth and declining sales overall. <\/p>\n

To succeed, it has to take on the world\u2019s biggest fashion retailer Inditex SA and its Zara brand, which has managed to outperform Marks & Spencer in India even though it set up shop in one of the world\u2019s biggest retail markets almost a decade later. \u201cSince they entered, Marks & Spencer has had one issue and that is getting their positioning right,\u201d said Harminder Sahani, managing director of retail consultancy Wazir Advisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince they entered, Marks & Spencer has had one issue and that is getting their positioning right,\u201d said Harminder Sahani, managing director of retail consultancy Wazir Advisors.<\/p>\n

They are now trying to become hot and happening and that is a very competitive segment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

On Monday it said it expects to have 80 stores in India by 2016, making the country the largest international market by stores outside of the UK. <\/p>\n

Marc Bolland, chief executive of London-based Marks and Spencer Group Plc, said India is the retailer\u2019s new \u201cpriority market\u201d. \u201cWe also want to expand to attractive tier-II cities like Surat and Kanpur, and aim for more than 80 stores by 2016,\u201d he told Mint in an interview. <\/p>\n

\u201cChina used to be the priority international market, but now that has changed,\u201d he further added. Analysts said this would be a big step for company, which, according to retail experts, did not capitalise on its advantage of being the first foreign apparel brand to enter country and had only 14 stores during 2001-08, notes DNA. <\/p>\n

Marks & Spencer wants to grow franchise in India<\/a>, a market that sees $38 billion of apparel sales a year and where the biggest spenders are, on average, aged 35 and below. Chief Executive Marc Bolland is opening the retailer\u2019s biggest India store on Monday in a fashionable shopping area of Mumbai. Regulatory filings, however, show the retailer has failed to turn a profit in India since 2009. Consultants say M&S has struggled since it set up shop in Asia\u2019s third largest economy in 2000, squandering its \u201cfirst mover\u201d advantage.<\/p>\n

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