Mahindra Retail brings Destination Maternity brand to India
Launches first store of maternity apparel in Gurgaon
New Delhi, May 16, 2012: Mahindra Retail, an extension of the US $14.4 billion Mahindra Group's trading foray in the domestic market through its unique venture of Mom & Me stores which seeks to address mother and child product and services, today opened the first Destination Maternity® store in India, as per their franchise agreement since March 2009 with Destination Maternity® Corporation, the world’s leading maternity apparel retailer.
The relationship has brought the Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod®, and Destination Maternity brands into India. The first store was launched today at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon Haryana.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Edward Krell, the CEO, Destination Maternity Corporation mentioned, “We are very excited to announce the opening of the first Destination Maternity store in India. With the launch of a Destination Maternity freestanding store we shall be expanding our presence in India. Our Destination Maternity store will offer an unparalleled breadth of assortment and a unique and engaging shopping experience. This location in Ambience Mall will be a ‘must visit’ shopping destination for the India mom-to-be, where she will be able to shop both our Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod brands. It is where the expectant mom can expect it all.”
Destination Maternity Corporation began in 1982 and has since introduced fashionable maternity garments that lay a strong underlying emphasis on comfort. They have the experience to understand the changing needs of pregnant women who want to look and feel good in the clothes they are wearing through the entire term of their pregnancies. There is a huge opportunity in the Indian market and the efforts of Mahindra Retail in trying to fill in the need for smart and comfortable maternity wear for Indian mothers-to be is a natural fit with Destination Maternity. Motherhood Maternity has been retailing out of Mom & Me stores since 2008.
Speaking about the tie-up, Mr. K. Venkataraman, CEO, Mahindra Retail Pvt. Ltd. said, “Destination Maternity has been the favoured and preferred brand of choice by pregnant women all over the world. We at Mahindra Retail have seen the gaps between the specific needs of expectant mothers and their desire to look smart
and good. Gone are the days when pregnant women wrapped themselves with loose garments which did anything but hide the baby bump. Today, more and more career-oriented women work right through their pregnancies, and in the process, want to look smart too. Our efforts, through this partnership with Destination Maternity, are to address the lacunae of smart maternity wear and provide mothers-to-be with a right blend of fashion and comfort. In fact, we have co-developed an ethnic maternity brand called Kriti Maternity with Destination Maternity. The store will have the following brands - Motherhood Maternity, Kriti Maternity, A Pea in A Pod (which is being launched in India for the 1st time). So, we are now offering both, Western and ethnic Indian maternity wear, thus making the choice far wider for expectant mothers.”
About Destination Maternity
Destination Maternity Corporation is the world’s largest designer and retailer of maternity apparel. In the United States and Canada, as of March 31, 2012, Destination Maternity operates 2,027 retail locations, including 643 stores, predominantly under the trade names Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod®, and Destination Maternity®, and 1,384 leased department locations, and sells on the web through its DestinationMaternity.com and brand-specific websites. Destination Maternity also distributes its Oh Baby by Motherhood® collection through a licensed arrangement at over 1,100 Kohl’s® stores throughout the United States and on Kohls.com. In addition, Destination Maternity is expanding internationally and has exclusive store franchise and product supply relationships in India, the Middle East and South Korea. As of March 31, 2012, Destination Maternity has 90 international franchised locations, including 76 shop-in-shop locations and 14 Destination Maternity branded stores.
About Mahindra Retail
Mahindra Retail is an extension of the US $14.4 billion Mahindra Group's trading foray in the domestic India market. The Group believes that this is the favorable time to extend its distribution business into direct retailing, when the organized retail market is expanding in India. Apart from distributing toys, games and wellness products under licenses from various international brands like Disney® and Mattel®, NUK®, it has now entered into a unique venture with the launch of Mom & Me stores, which specializes in products and services for mother and child.
Mom &Me the chain of stores from Mahindra Retail has been built around the unique needs of mothers to be, young mothers, infants and children up to the age of nine. The store was built to address the multiple lacunae in the market for maternity and baby products and services. The absence of a single retail outlet addressing mother and child product and non-medical advisory needs is the most critical need gap that Mom & Me seeks to address with a one-stop store for moms and kids across the country. Mom & Me has scoured the world's best brands in various categories and more and has selected a range of the best brands in the world to stock in their stores giving Indian mothers choice that they have not enjoyed hitherto. Where international brands have found to be lacking, Mom & Me has developed private labels in order to bring products like ethnic fashion for women, infant apparel, and traditional Indian toys to their stores for the benefit of the Indian consumer. Mom & Me now has 77 stores in across 27 cities, includingDelhi, Haryana, Ghaziabad, Noida, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Bangalore, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mangalore, Dehradun, Raipur, Chennai, Vizag, Hyderabad, Calicut, and Coimbatore.
For more information, please visit www.momandme.in
About The Mahindra Group
The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership. Mahindra has a presence in the automotive industry, agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheelers. A US $14.4 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 144,000 people in over 100 countries.
In 2011, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world. Dun & Bradstreet also ranked Mahindra at No. 1 in the automobile sector in its list of India’s Top 500 Companies. In 2010, Mahindra featured in the Credit Suisse Great Brands of Tomorrow. In 2011, Mahindra acquired a majority stake in Korea’s SsangYong Motor Company.
For further information, please visit www.mahindra.com
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For further enquiries please contact:
Ms. Roma Balwani
Senior VP & Group Head - Corporate Communication
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Phone: (+91-22) 24901441
Email: balwani.roma@mahindra.com