Sri Lankan fashion retailer plans overseas expansion

04 Aug '12

2 min read

Sri Lanka-based fashion retailer Odel Plc is pondering on prospects of expanding in foreign markets with its new East-Asian partner, Parksons Retail Asia.

Parksons Retail Asia, a department store marking its presence in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, of late, acquired a 41.8 percent stake in Odel Plc for a price of Lk Rs. 1.424 billion.

Eyeing to promote its range in overseas market, Odel, which holds franchise for its stylish women’s fashion accessory brand ‘Backstage’ in Singapore and Male, is exploring alternatives for next stage of expansion in countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Sri Lankan retailer believes that Parkson’s entry would allow it a better chance to take its brands outside the island.

Odel has successfully developed its unique personalized brands like ‘Odel’, ‘embark’, ‘Backstage’ and ‘LuvSL’, which has placed it a step ahead of other fashion retail chains. The company says it would continue developing its personalized brands to keep pace with the changing global department store trends.

Operating 17 retail chain outlets across Sri Lanka, Odel launched a chain of stores in Colombo’s suburbs in 2011, with its most recent opening in Wattala, which was mainly influenced by increased urbanization and changing consumer lifestyle trends.

During last fiscal that ended on March 31, the company achieved a turnover of Lk Rs. 3.8 billion, which is a year-on-year rise of 15 percent.

With plans to launch stores in key locations with good market potential, last fiscal turned out to be a year of expansion for the company.

Operating with a workforce of 430 people, Odel features products of around 1000 suppliers, including 200 domestic and overseas factories.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India