Malabar Gold & Diamonds to triple outlets to 750, raise group turnover
Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the world’s largest jewellery retailer, has announced an ambitious global growth plan on the eve of its Silver Jubilee (25 years) celebrations that will see the company triple its retail network from 250 showrooms this year to 750 outlets in the next five years with annual turnover exceeding US$6.16bn and the group turnover to US$6.85bn by 2023.
The group currently operates retail outlets spread across ten countries in the India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and America. Its massive expansion plan will see the company expand its footprint across all Tier 1 and Tier II cities in North and Central India in order to cater to the growing jewellery market.
The company’s plan of major expansion in international market includes new territories such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, Egypt and Turkey. As much as 40 per cent of the group turnover will be generated from the company’s operations outside India.
Considering the characteristics of the new market planned to enter, Malabar Group introduced a new concept - MGD Lifestyle Jewellery - a smaller for- mat store offering daily wear small-ticket jewellery and lifestyle articles.
The company plans to invest US$960mn to manage the growth and expansion. The expansion will see Malabar Group expand its investor base from 2,752 and include more investors from North and Central Indian states, so that they could also be a part of the success of Malabar Gold and Diamonds.
Malabar Gold & Diamonds is the jewellery retail arm of the diversified business conglomerate Malabar Group that includes other business verticals such as real estate developments, shopping malls, hypermarket, technologies, retailing of home appliances and electronics, watches, franchisee retailing and services.
The new expansion will see Malabar Group nearly double its headcount from 13,000 to 25,000 professionals on direct payroll within the next five years to manage the growth and expansion.
M P Ahammed, chairman of Malabar Group, at a press conference in Mumbai, said, “Silver Jubilee is a major milestone in any company’s history and during this time Malabar Group grew from a local entity to an Indian International brand with a large loyal customer base.
“Today, Malabar is a name to reckon with and known to almost every consumer. During the last 25 years, Malabar Gold & Diamond has grown from strength to strength and rose from being a small outfit to an international player across a number of verticals including gold and diamond jewellery retail and manufacturing and multi-retail concepts.”
Abdul Salam K P, group exec- utive director of Malabar Group, said, “As a responsible business, we are very mindful of our obligations to our societies. Our expansion will create more well-paid jobs and we are very excited about our future growth plan.”
Asher O, managing director - India operations, said, “Our ambitious retail expansion plan in North and Central Indian states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, etc will be supported by a new set of investors from these regions. We will also continue to strengthen our retail foot print in the states where we currently have strong presence.”
Shamlal Ahamed, managing director of Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ International Operations, said, “As an Indian-born international jewellery brand, we take pride in our roots in India and help connect the global consumers to the Indian heritage and art.”