US Polo Assn to open 60 to 70 stores a year, announces India has potential to become its largest global market

Polo inspired casual wear brand US Polo Assn has named India as its swiftest growing market and plans to open up to 70 brick-and-mortar stores a year, confident that the country has the potential to become its largest global market in the future. 

“India is our fastest-growing market and has the potential to become our largest market many years from now,” US Polo Assn’s CEO and president J Michael Prince told ET Retail. “The growth here is outpacing both the US and Turkey on an annual bases.”

US Polo Assn is expanding in the Indian market with am]n omni-channel strategy and sees online sales account for 25% of its total. The brand currently counts 450 brick-and-mortar stores in the country, where it retails with Arvind Fashions Limited, and plans to open between 60 and 70 stores a year while also opening around 25 flagship stores in the coming two years.

Product categories currently driving growth for US Polo Assn include footwear and children’s wear. The label’s footwear segment is a Rs 300 crore business and is expected to reach Rs 500 crore in the near future. US Polo Assn sees global opportunities in children’s wear, a fast growing category in India, along with womenswear and handbags. 

To bolster its footwear capabilities in India, US Polo Assn plans to produce footwear in the country following the Bureau of Indian Standards’ compliance guidelines, the Economic Times reported. Moreover, the brand has also begun foraying into quick commerce and has been selling around 200 polo shirts per day from the service.