Malabar Gold & Diamonds to Invest INR 240 crores; Continues to Expand its Retail Network

KOCHI:
Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the world’s largest jewellery retailer, announced that it will launch nine stores across India and globally as a part of their ambitious global growth plan announced in 2018 that will see the company triple its retail network from 250 showrooms to 750 outlets. The Group currently operates retail outlets spread across ten countries in India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and America. Its expansion plan will see the company expand its footprint across all Tier 1 and Tier II cities in North and Central India – in order to cater to the growing jewellery market. Internationally, the expansion will further strengthen its position in markets like Singapore, Malaysia, Oman and UAE.

In the run up to the festive season, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has scheduled the opening of five stores across India in Lucknow, Dwarka (West Delhi), Ghaziabad, Thane and Kamanahalli (Bengaluru). While the Lucknow and Dwarka stores are located in malls, the other three are in high street locations. In addition, the brand is also scheduled to open a store each in UAE, Singapore, Malaysia and Oman.

The move marks a major investment in expansion at a time when many gold and jewellery retailers have struggled to manage their existing operations due to challenging global economic environment. Despite the challenging market conditions resulted by lower demand, higher price of gold and the pandemic in India / globally, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has decided to push ahead with expansion, which demonstrates it confidence in the growth of these markets in future.

“The opening of these nine showrooms with a world-class shopping experience in the post-Covid scenario demonstrates the faith reposed by the customers in the brand. It is only due to their encouragement and patronage that the brand continues to march forward and add to its retail footprints in various corners of the country and the world. Our retail expansion is a part of our plan to become the number one gold retail brand in the world in terms of both showroom count and sales. Accordingly, we have plans to triple the number of showrooms in the next five years”, said Malabar Group Chairman MP Ahammed.

For the upcoming festive season that typically sees an upsurge in gold purchase by consumers, the brand is focussing on their One India One Gold Rate initiative, which aims to offer uniform pricing of gold to customers across the country. Additionally, it has also launched an extensive Diwali-specific festive collection which is available at all Malabar stores and the e-catalogue is available for browsing on Malabar Gold & Diamonds website.

Commenting on the same, Asher O, Managing Director – India Operations, Malabar Group said, “We are buoyed by the customer response since the lockdown has lifted and retail activities have resumed, albeit with necessary health and hygiene precautions in place. We are positive about the market sentiment and our investment plan reflects our commitment to our customers. The opening of these new locations is a matter of pride for us. Combined with the One India One Gold Rate initiative and special festive designs, this will help us provide great value to customers in the coming festive season. I am confident that our customers will continue to respond positively to our offerings of wide retail presence, quality products, unmatched design and transparent pricing”

The brand has also sharpened its customer centric outreach with the inclusion of responsibly sourced gold in the set of commitments to customers, called Malabar Promises. Malabar Gold & Diamonds, have for many years served as the trusted jewellery retailer for millions of satisfied customers and to this day the commitment of maintaining complete transparency when it comes to the quality, sourcing, and ethical value of our products continue undeterred.

Malabar Promises are the assurances given to the customer by the brand; providing complete peace of mind when it comes to jewellery shopping. These include benefits such as Complete transparency, Assured lifetime maintenance, Zero deduction gold exchange, 100% BIS hallmarked gold, Tested & certified diamonds, Guaranteed buyback, jewellery insurance, Karat analyser facility and responsibly sourced gold.

Malabar Group believes that the most successful companies are those which integrate responsibility and sustainability into their core business. The group is always proactive when it comes to CSR activities right from the inception. The key focus areas of the CSR initiatives of Malabar Group are in the areas of Health, Education, Women Empowerment, Housing and Environment. The organization has kept aside 5% of its profit for the CSR activities in all the regions that they operate. The group, which currently has showrooms across GCC, India, Malaysia, Singapore & USA undertakes several welfare activities with the association of like-minded organizations in the respective regions.