Business

Saks Appoints Aditya Birla Fashion To Open First Indian Outlet

North America's oldest commercial firm is partnering Aditya Birla Group, whose origins date back to 1857, to start Saks Fifth Avenue outlets in India.

Hudson's Bay Company-owned Saks, which competes with Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. for customers of designer or limited-edition footwear, clothing, and accessories, will help Indian shoppers live the Fifth Avenue experience in New Delhi's Aerocity, according to sources.

Saks has appointed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail as the India franchisee and the first outlet is expected to come up in Bharti Realty's Worldmark 2, according to media reports. The Aditya Birla group is also scouting for space in Mumbai for the second Saks department store there. In New Delhi, Saks store will compete with DLF's luxury mall Emporio, that is home to single-brand luxury stores of Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Giorgio Armani, and Gucci. Bharti Realty's mix-land development Worldmark has over 1.4 million square feet commercial and retail space, consisting of about 900,000 square feet of office space and 500,000 square feet of high-end retail space.

The facility also houses Kishore Biyani-owned Central mall that is spread over 100,000 sq ft.

Aditya Birla Fashion owns brands including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Pantaloons department stores. In May 2015, Aditya Birla Group merged its units Madura Fashion division, Pantaloons Fashion & Retail and Madura Garments Lifestyle Retail to create Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.