French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has picked up retail space in Jio World Plaza in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) from Reliance Industries through a long-term lease to set up its biggest store in India.
The new store in the ritzy mall will be the second Mumbai outlet of the company, which is counted amongst the world’s most valuable luxury brands. The international label has leased the space for 9.5 years through its Indian entity, Louis Vuitton India Retail.
The company currently operates three stores in India, including at Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in south Mumbai’s Apollo Bunder, New Delhi’s DLF Emporio and UB City in Bengaluru. The new store will be spread over 7,365 sq ft across a total three stores on the elevated ground floor of Jio World Plaza.
Louis Vuitton India Retail will be paying monthly rentals of nearly Rs 40.50 lakh, which is based on a minimum monthly guaranteed sum or 6% of net revenue share, whichever is higher for the leased space.
As per the agreement, the rent will witness an escalation of 15% after every 36 months. Licensee Louis Vuitton India Retail will have a first lock-in period of total five years and second lock-in term of further 24 months, showed the documents accessed through FloorTap.com.
The lease transaction was registered on August 21 and fit out period is set at 150 days. The company has paid a security deposit of Rs 2.43 crore, while security deposit for common area maintenance is Rs 24.30 lakh and fit outs is Rs 29.46 lakh. According to the agreement, the lease will commence from February 2023 and will be operational until December 2032.
ET’s email query to Reliance Industries and Louis Vuitton India Retail remained unanswered until the time of going to press.
Several global luxury brands have set their sights on the burgeoning Indian market and are either forming alliances or entering directly to get a bigger slice of it.
India, being the fastest growing economy in the world, is expected to witness significant growth in the number of millionaires in the next few years. This is expected to drive the consumption of luxury goods and services in a big way.
Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL), a unit of Reliance Industries, itself has signed deals to bring luxury brands like Valentino and Balenciaga to India.
Interestingly, last year, Louis Vuitton appointed actress Deepika Padukone as its global brand ambassador, making her the first Indian face to sign such a contract with them. Following this, Italian high-end luxury fashion house Gucci has made actress Alia Bhatt their first Indian global brand ambassador.
