MUMBAI: Under Armour, the US-headquartered premium sportswear brand, plans to open 15 stores in India at an investment of Rs 20-30 million per store, this year, Hindu Businessline reports.
The sportswear brand incorporated its India subsidiary – Under Armour India Trading Pvt Ltd – in October 2018 and opened its first 1,900 sq ft store in Delhi at the DLF Promenade Mall, in March 2019.
“We opened our largest 4,000 sq ft store on Christmas day at the Mall of India in Noida and exited 2019 with 10 stores in premier malls across Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida, Surat and Guwahati. The plan is to open 15 new stores at an average size of 2,000 sq ft and exit 2020 with 25 stores. All of our stores are franchise-owned and operated and each store is set up at an investment of Rs 2-3 crore (Rs 20-30 million), depending on the size of the store,” Tushar Goculdas, managing director, Under Armour India, told the business daily.
“Interestingly, our first store in DLF Promenade, which raked in Rs 1.75 crore (Rs 17.5 million) sales in its first month, is currently grossing the highest sales per sq ft in the world,” Goculdas claims.
The new stores will come up in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Lucknow. The company’s retail strategy is to open stores in the ground floor of premium malls as it gives the brand greater and faster visibility as people walk in.
At the end of 2019, Under Armour owned and operated 370 stores globally.
“Our two largest sports verticals are running gear and training/workout gear; we also have golf and basketball sportswear. We will soon bring in more niche sportswear like hiking and outdoor/adventure sports, which is very big for us in the US,” said Goculdas. The brand’s target audience is the focus performer from the mid-teens to the late 30s, who plays his/her sport on a regular basis, or who works out on a regular basis and is constantly training and striving to improve his/her performance.
“In the last 5-7 years, people in their 40s are taking to sport in a very big way in India; we are targeting this segment too,” he said.
