The Times Group forays into beauty segment, to launch 'Femina Flaunt' salons across India

Multimedia company Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) has announced its plans to enter the beauty segment with its brand Femina. The company has formed a new division, Times Lifestyle Enterprise, which will launch Femina Flaunt in the beauty salon segment.

Sandeep Dahiya, Director, Brand Extensions, BCCL, 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. The company has also roped in Dinesh Bhat (formerly with Unilever India) as the COO for the venture. Dinesh will report to Dahiya.

The company plans to open its first unisex, company-owned, company-operated (COCO) studio salon in Mumbai within the first half of 2019.

Vineet Jain, Managing Director, The Times Group, 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, among others, and this venture would explore relevant, sustainable and scalable business models around these brands in the retail and lifestyle space.”

Speaking about the venture, 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 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 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’s range of products has already had a cumulative MRP sales of over Rs 200 million.  

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