Menswear brand Raymond Ltd embarked on the uphill task of opening 300 Mini The Raymond Stores (Mini TRS) in two years and managed to outdo themselves by opening 303 stores in 24 months. Their earlier store opening average was only 25 stores in a year. The key to the company’s successful yet fastest roll out of stores is in its agile business model which takes into account the consumer nuances and market dynamics. As early as in 2008 the company realized the importance of emerging markets beyond Tier I. Between 2009-14 the company gradually expanded its retail presence to cover all Tier II & III markets. For the next level of retail expansion Raymond felt a need to evolve and develop new retail business model with right consumer proposition for the emerging Tier IV and V towns. The new Asset-lite model requires an investment less than 1/3rd of a regular TRS and helps set up stores within 15 days instead of regular 45 days. Mohit Dhanjal Director Retail Raymond LimitedAn interesting fact about the Mini TRS is that of the 300 stores, close to 160 are opened by first-time entrepreneurs, who were either professionals or ran traditional businesses and were looking at exploring new retailing opportunities. “When you go and talk to them about a new idea, they are more receptive towards it. The Mini TRS model is actually flexible and is also an asset-light model as the investment levels are lower; roughly Rs. 50 lakhs as against Rs. 2 crores for a larger TRS format. Once an entrepreneur becomes comfortable with the Mini TRS, he or she can look at a bigger platform,” says Mohit Dhanjal, Director - Retail, Raymond Limited about the Mini TRS franchisees. “Typically, the realized margin for a store is 10-12% after expenses. The Mini TRS has the potential to generate revenues between Rs 0.75 Cr to 1 crore per annum as compared to a larger format that generates revenue of Rs 2.5 crore. Also, the Mini TRS are doing 1.6 times more than what Raymond’s initial business projections showed. The new Retail Business Model is built in such a way that the franchisee is cash-positive from the first month and within 24-30 months they are likely to recover the investment,” Dhanjal added. Today, Raymond is present in over 580 towns but has a target of being present in every town of India with #HarSheharMeinRaymond. “We are committed to growing our retail footprint and soon will cross the 1,000 stores milestone in the coming months. In the next 2-3 years, the we are planning to open 100 stores every year,” Dhanjal said.