Malabar Gold plans 100 mini stores

Malabar Gold and Diamonds has opened a new type of mini jewellery stores in Dubai and plans to open 100 such stores in the UAE and other Gulf states over the next three years.

‘Pink Chic’ will be an alternative chain targeting girls and young women with gold, diamond, silver and pearl jewellery in the $100 to $1,000 price range," Malabar Group co-chairman Ibrahim Haji, a Dubai based non-resident Indian businessman, said.

The group plans to spend $100 million for branding and marketing ‘Pink Chic’ mini shops that will open in shopping malls, hotels and kiosks in the UAE.

The group is also planning to open branches of Jawahara, a new chain of gold jewellery retail outlets targeting Middle Eastern women, in the Gulf. The first Jawahara outlet will open in the Avenues in Kuwait.

Malabar Gold and Diamonds plans to add 125 new outlets within the next three years involving an investment of Dh1.2 billion ($700 million), targeting an annual turnover of $6 billion.

“The launch of Pink Chic is part of the company’s three-year expansion programme that was launched in 2012 that will see an investment of Dh1.2 billion to increase its retail network from 100 to 220 by 2015. With that, Malabar Gold and Diamond is expected to become the world’s largest gold and diamond jewellery retailer,” the company’s co-chairman said in Dubai.

The new mini jewellery outlets will reflect the company’s shifting focus from traditional seasonal gold jewellery that appeals to South Asian womenfolk.

With the new mini jewellery retail chain, Malabar Gold and Diamonds aims to widen its appeal among women professionals, said M P Ahmed, chairman of Malabar Group.

“It will see the company transform from a regional business to a global corporation that caters to all tastes and cultures,” he said.

Ibrahim Haji said the jewllery chain will open seven new outlets in the UAE, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah and will open its first Singapore next month.

Malabar Gold and Diamonds currently has 100 outlets - 70 in India and 30 in the Gulf – and is planning outlets in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The group also plans to open 100 outlets of Malabar Watches, a multi-brand watch store, in major Indian cities over the next few years.

Sham Lal, managing director of Malabar Gold and Diamonds, said the launch of Pink Chic will internationalise the brand’s image. He said Pink Chic collections will be sourced from Europe, Far East and Asia.

Malabar Gold and Diamonds, which claims to the third largest gold and jewellery outlet in the world, started with just one outlet in Kozhikode in the southern Indian state of Kerala 20 years ago.

 

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