Tablez, the retail arm of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group, will open 25 GO Sport multi-brand superstores in India in the next five years at an investment of ₹250 crore.
The first store was launched in Mumbai in May, the second would be opened on June 8 in Bengaluru while another three GO Sport outlets would come up in other cities by the end of this year.
Dedicated zones
Each of these 10,000- 14,000 sq ft GO Sport stores would have dedicated zones for outdoor, trekking, climbing, workout/gym and serious sports. “The sports superstore format is something new in India. GO Store will bring together some 70 of the world’s biggest and specialist sport and fitness brands under one roof,” said Adeeb Ahamed, MD, Tablez. The French sportswear, equipment and lifestyle brand, GO Sport, now has 108 stores globally. Tablez said the results of a pre-launch market survey, conducted by the company in India, were ‘quite encouraging’.
Mr. Ahamed, who is also the MD of Lulu Financial Group and the group’s luxury hospitality arm Twenty14Holdings said, “[The year] 2019 has been a year of launches and expansion for the group’s diverse businesses, including toys, hospitality, malls and other retailing activities. In hospitality alone, we will infuse up to $1 billion by 2020.’’