The Week India – July 14, 2019

56 THE WEEK • JULY 14, 2019

BUSINESS

RAYMOND

Apparel to

apartment

Raymond is weaving a new story

in the realty sector

BY NACHIKET KELKAR

THE YEAR WAS 1925, and India was under colo-

nial rule. A member of the Wadia family sensed an

opportunity to make clothes for Indian soldiers and

he set up a woollen mill in Thane, on the outskirts of

Bombay. The mill was later sold to E.D. Sassoon and

Co, and was renamed as Raymond Woollen Mills,

after its directors Albert and Abraham Raymond.

The JK Group owned by the Singhania family took

over the mill in 1944, but they did not change its

name. Under Vijaypat Singhania, Raymond became a

household name for textile and readymade garments.

It is now the world’s largest producer of worsted suit-

ing fabric and is among the largest branded apparel

retailers in India. Its textile costs anywhere between

0 200 to 0 10 lakh a metre.

One can find a Raymond store not only on Mum-

bai’s high streets but also in the narrow lanes in In-

dia’s vast hinterland. It runs 1,100 exclusive stores and

its branded textile is available at around 20,000 points

of sale in 600 cities and towns. Its branded apparel

retails in 500 cities and towns at 5,100 multi-brand

outlets. In the current financial year, Raymond will

open another 250 exclusive stores.

Having covered the length and breadth of the coun-

try with its showrooms, Raymond is now exploring

other opportunities. It recently opened a ‘Ceremonial

Store’ in Mumbai for ethnic wear. It also has an exclu-

sive store selling khadi fabric and apparel.

“You have to keep re-inventing yourself and

continuously look for new concepts,” said Gautam

Singhania, chairman and managing director of Ray-

mond. “One is the horizontal expansion of Raymond

stores, and the other is different verticals. Khadi and

Ceremonial are two new concepts we

launched and there is scalability on that.”

Singhania sees opportunities in

scaling up Raymond’s made-to-measure

studios as well as the super luxury con-

cept stores called Atelier. The company

is also looking at new platforms like

tailoring hubs and new technologies

like 3D printing of accessories and a do-

it-yourself clothing line to attract more

customers.

Raymond’s net profit grew 27 per cent

in the January-March quarter, and sales

were up 11 per cent. For the year ended

on March 31, its net profit was up 23 per

cent year-on-year, to 0 175 crore from

0 142 crore. Revenue for the year rose 12

SOLID PLANS

Gautam Singhania,

chairman and

managing director

of Raymond