June 24, 2013: Villeroy & Boch AG has announced a joint venture with Genesis Luxury Fashion Pvt. Ltd. with operations starting from in June 2013. The joint venture with Genesis will exclusively manage the distribution of Villeroy & Boch tableware products in India.
The partnership ensures the establishment of a distribution network through the opening of Villeroy & Boch's own exclusive retail stores in India. “Our aim is to develop the Indian market qualitatively with the new partner. The Indian market for luxury products has been growing continuously in recent years. This new partnership thus comes at exactly the right time, enabling us to extend our local presence,” says Nicolas Luc Villeroy, Director and Tableware Business Unit Manager of Villeroy & Boch AG. The Villeroy & Boch stores will be successively opened in key luxury shopping malls across India, where Genesis is already present with other high-end brands from their portfolio such as Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Tumi and Canali.
For Genesis the cooperation involves a strategic portfolio extension. In the past the organisation has focused on fashion manufacturers, but with Villeroy & Boch its offerings are being extended to include the "Home Interior" segment.
Amit Gadkari will be the Chief Operating Officer of the Joint Venture and supervise the overall operations of the Tableware business locally for Villeroy & Boch. The plan for 2013 is to initially open three Villeroy & Boch stores nationwide, and then to ramp up over the next five years to a total of 16. To realize these plans, investments in the two-digit million ranges (in INR crores) will be made. The first store will be located at Palladium Mall in Mumbai and will be opened shortly.
