Tailor-made For Perfection

As a teenager, we have at least once borrowed our parent’s clothes for some special occasion or the other. For girls, it is generally their mother’s chiffon or silk sarees, for men it is their father’s suit or tie. While the six-yard cloth is a beautiful garment in itself and no brand can take the credit, but if it is a suit, it has to be Raymond! The brand is the reason why most of the Indian men look so dapper in their wedding or graduation pictures. If you are planning to invest in a suit – the first thought and probably the only brand that comes to your mind is Raymond.

As a brand, Raymond has been helping men suit up since 1925. But do you know when its first store opened? It was in 1958 when the company’s early promoters felt the need to display the entire portfolio under one roof at their flagship store in Ballard Estate, Mumbai (then Bombay) as the textile sector in the country was quite fragmented. What started as a showroom then has today evolved into a business model — the Raymond Store (TRS). Presently, the company boasts of over 900 stores. In a conversation with Entrepreneur, Mohit Dhanjal, managing director-retail, Raymond Limited and the man behind Raymond’s successful franchising journey shares the brand’s culture and values along with what is contributing to the nine-decade-old company’s growth.

Gen Next of Franchise

The legacy of Raymond is such that one of the first few stores, which was opened in the North of Delhi is still operational. Similarly, most of the company’s franchisees are operated by second-third generation franchise partners with an average age of 30-35 years. For Raymond, the exponential growth is result of the 5Gs - Competitive Growth (faster than the competition), Profitable Growth (+ve EBIT), Sustainable Growth (continuous year on year), Inclusive Growth (Company and Franchise partners) and Experiential Growth (enhancing customer experience).