Gautam Singhania-led textile major Raymond has shut down its premium brand offering, Be:Home, within two years of its launch. All four multi-speciality Be:Home stores in Mumbai and Delhi have been shut down, a company spokes-person said, refusing to comment on the reason for the move.

“In line with our ongoing and continuous strategic evaluation of our brand portfolio to serve customers better, we withdrew the Be:Home brand from the market. This was a part of a our brand rationalisation and consolidation,” the spokesperson told PTI here today.

At the time of its launch, the company was targeting a turnover of around Rs 75 crore in three years. It is, however, understood that the company is mulling a re-launch. Interestingly, Be:Home itself was a re-launch when it was announced in 2008. The brand traces its origins to Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania’s pet project to offer collections of premium fashion designers in large volumes at lower prices.

Originally launched as Be: in 2001, the brand was discontinued in 2007 with a view to repositioning it. A year later, it was re-launched as Be:Home with the intent of offering soft furnishings and accessories sourced from across the globe.

The home furnishings segment is a crowded one, having a players like the Future Group, Shoppers Stop and Bombay Dyeing, among others.

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Apparel house Raymond today said it is aiming to increase revenue from retail business by up to 40 per cent in two years from the current Rs 1,000 crore, for which it will add more stores in smaller towns.

“We are looking at 30-40 per cent jump in revenue from retail business in the next two years from the current turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore,” Raymond president (retail and business development) Rakesh Pandey told reporters here on the sidelines of an AIMA event.

In the third quarter ended December 31, Raymond reported a total income of Rs 375.9 crore and for the nine-month period it stood at Rs 1,017.95 crore.

Under its retail vertical, Raymond has the Raymond Shop (premium retail store offering complete wardrobe solutions for men), Brand Shop (exclusive stores for stand-alone brands of the firm) and Be:Home(a specialty multi-brand home retail chain for soft home furnishings and accessories).

To achieve its target, the company is stepping up retail expansion, specially into smaller towns and plans to add 300 stores in the next two years.

“We are expanding our outlets mainly in smaller cities and we will add 300 stores in the next two years,” he said, adding at present, the firm operates 500 outlets, of which about 80 per cent are franchisees.

He said about 250 stores will be opened in tier II and tier III cities, and most of them would be in the franchisee model with the size varying between 1,000 and 1,500 sq ft.

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