MUMBAI: Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, one of India’s leading multimedia companies, has announced its plans to enter the beauty segment with its legacy brand Femina. The company has formed a new division, Times Lifestyle Enterprise, which will launch Femina FLAUNT into the beauty salon segment.
BCCL director – brand extensions Sandeep Dahiya has been appointed the CEO of the new entity and would be responsible for exploring and driving growth for the venture while continuing to lead brand extensions at BCCL. Further, the company has roped in Dinesh Bhat (formerly with Unilever India) as the COO for the venture. Bhat will report to Dahiya.
The company plans to open its first unisex COCO (company-owned, company-operated) Studio Salon in Mumbai within the first half of 2019.
Announcing the development, Times Group managing director Vineet Jain said, “Our entry into the beauty segment is in line with the group’s philosophy of continuing to invest in newer and future growth opportunities. We have many legacy brands within the group, like Femina, Filmfare and Miss India, amongst others, and this venture would explore relevant, sustainable and scalable business models around these brands in the retail & lifestyle space.”
Speaking about the venture, Times Lifestyle Enterprise CEO and BCCL director – brand extension Sandeep Dahiya said, “Beauty is an exciting, and a rapidly growing category in India, and we’re confident of making a significant impact in this category through differentiated service offering, personalised consumer engagement, and best-in-class brand alliances. He further added, “The venture will follow a hybrid model of growth in this segment, starting with COCO salons, and simultaneously expanding through a robust franchise program, to create a footprint of over 100 salons in the first five years.”
The entry in the salon segment follows Femina FLAUNT’s successful foray into the consumer products space with Shoppers Stop in 2015, across core fashion categories. Today, Femina FLAUNT is already available across six categories – apparel, footwear, handbags, accessories, fragrances, and eyewear. The brand is today available in more than 60 Shoppers Stop stores, across India and in over 300 eyewear stores. Within 36 months of launch, Femina FLAUNT range of products has already had cumulative MRP sales of over Rs 200 million.
