The Walt Disney Co is in talks with India’s DLF Brands to open stores in the country, hoping to cash in on the growing demand for branded kids clothing and accessories. Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, plans to operate such stores on a licensing and franchisee basis, industry’s senior executives said.
While the company plans to open a few large format flagship stores of 10,000 square feet, most of the outlets in India will average 1,000 sq. ft. of space to largely focus on apparel and toys.
For its bigger stores, Disney will replicate global designs originally developed by Apple cofounder Steve Jobs when he had become its largest shareholder. DLF Brands chief executive officer Timmy Sarna said it already had a licensing deal with Walt Disney to sell children’s clothing in India through retail formats that were part of the group such as Mothercare. He didn’t provide further details.
“DLF Brands will initially open around 50 Disney stores in the first phase and is already scouting for locations. Walt Disney Co could also explore owning or turning the licensee agreement into a joint venture with DLF depending on the performance,” one of the executives said.
Globally, Disney is the largest retail character licensor with 45 billion US dollar in retail sales. In India, it sells 3,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) of popular characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in nearly a million stores and through online sites such as Amazon and Flipkart.
