Apparel September 2019 Apparel September 2019 issue | Page 50

FEATURE
The Mini Mania
One of the giants in apparel retailing, Raymond adopted
an aggressive expansion strategy using a new format, a
mini-store format, attractively known as ‘Mini TRS’ (The
Raymond Shop). Its focus is on having as many shops
as possible across the country, which, rather than being
massive shops, would be smaller versions of the same,
enabling the customers to get a better feel of what
Raymond truly is. This strategy has been paying well for
the company given that in the last two years, it has added
300 mini TRSs, as per its target. Based on the asset-light
model and using the franchising route, the format seems to
have augured well for the company and promises further
growth in the coming years. More importantly, what it does
put in the spotlight is the very concept of mini stores, or
small stores, as they are popularly called, which are being
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I APPAREL I
September 2019
Amid the country’s ever-shifting retail landscape, Chitra
Balasubramaniam writes of the most recent phenomenon
in offline buying—mini stores.