Saks And Aditya Birla Drops 1st Desi Store plan

Well-heeled consumers in India may have to wait before they can shop for their favourite Jimmy Choos or Christian Louboutins at one of the world’s most iconic shopping addresses Saks Fifth Avenue. The American luxury department store chain owned by Hudson’s Bay Company has pulled out of opening its first store in Gurgaon’s Aerocity.

Earlier this year, it was reported Saks Fifth Avenue would open its first store in partnership with the Aditya Birla Group in Aerocity, one of the country’s rapidly-growing tony zones, followed by a second one in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex.

Saks Fifth Avenue operates around 50 stores in upscale locations across the world, including Beverly Hills and Bahrain, with its flagship store in Midtown Manhattan in New York. Its parent Hudson’s Bay Company operates the Lord & Taylor chain in the US, among others, and bought in 2015 the Cologne-headquartered department store chain Galeria Kaufhof from Metro.

The compounded growth rate of the number of Indian high net worth households over the last five years was 16%, with 1.5 lakh such households having a combined net worth of Rs 135 lakh crore in FY16. This is expected to grow to around 3 lakh households with a combined net worth of Rs 300 lakh crore by 2021, according to a study by Kotak Wealth Management. And interestingly, in contrast with traditional trends, currently around 59% of ultra high net worth individuals (HNIs) prefer to shop for luxury goods at home.

The Aditya Birla Group owns Madura Fashion and runs Pantaloons fashion and lifestyle retail chain Pantaloons. It sells apparel under brands such as Allen Solly, Peter England and Van Heusen. It has also partnered Forever 21 and British menswear brand Simon Carter to bring its stores to India.