28 February 2023, Mumbai
Reliance Retail is set to open 50 exclusive stores of American apparel brand Gap in India by the end of 2023, according to the company's President & CEO, Fashion & Lifestyle, Akhilesh Prasad.
The stores will feature Indian preferences in designs, colours and select patterns as part of Gap's offerings. The move comes after Reliance Retail opened its first freestanding Gap store in Mumbai and more than 50 shop-in-shop stores since last year. The company plans to take the Gap brand beyond developed metro markets and into mini-metros and state capitals, and then to cities with populations of 300,000 to 500,000.
Prasad said Gap's range of offerings would have "Indian inspiration" and "Indian designs" and that the brand would not be high-priced compared to other luxury brands operating in India. Instead, it will be a premium brand with a price starting at INR900 ($12) for a T-shirt and going upwards.
Reliance Retail believes that the market in India is ripe for a brand like Gap to be introduced and quickly scale up due to the country's fast-growing economy and rising disposable income. Over time, more of Gap's designs would be produced in India as the network grows, Prasad said.
