Inditex, a Spanish multinational clothing company and one of the world’s largest fashion retailers with eight brands and over 6,390 stores throughout the world is eyeing various locations in India to open Massimo Dutti stores in a joint venture with Indian retail operations group Trent. The joint venture between Inditex and Trent will invest Rs. 10 crore (US $ 1.6 million) in two years to open five Massimo Dutti locations. Inditex hopes to open stores in top locations and malls, but noted that “finding marquee properties is taking time.
The apparel group in June 2012 had put forward application to open Massimo Dutti stores in the country, but the application was rejected by India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) claiming that an investor should own the brand it proposes to bring to India under local law. However, the FIPB accepted Zara’s application in 2012, and India’s government subsequently eased its laws on brand ownership.
