Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the big five jewellery retailers globally, is opening 11 new showrooms across Qatar and five other countries tomorrow (Friday).
Eight of the new showrooms are in the Gulf region, taking the total number of outlets to 208 spread across nine countries. The two new showrooms in Qatar are opening at Mall of Qatar and Lagoona Mall.
“This is for the first time that an Indian jewellery retailer is opening such a large number of showrooms spread across six nations in a single day,” according to a statement issued by Malabar Gold & Diamonds.
The other new showrooms are in Al Khail Mall, Al Hazana Lulu, Al Buhaira Lulu, Sahara Centre, Ajman City Centre in the UAE, Muscat City Centre in Oman, AMK Hub in Singapore, Ampang Mall in Malaysia, and Warrangal in Telangana, India.
“The opening of 11 showrooms in a single day across six countries reflects our strong conviction and confidence in the overall growth of the gold and diamond sector, despite challenging circumstances in certain markets. We are getting wide acceptance in the global market place,” Malabar Group chairman M P Ahammed explained at a press conference in Dubai.
Currently, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has 197 showrooms of which 90 showrooms are in India and the other 107 abroad. The rapid expansion of showrooms across the world is part of the Group’s strategy. In FY2017 alone, Malabar Group has opened 27 showrooms across nations.
“Despite the bull-run of crypto-currency, introduction of GST in India and VAT in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, we believe that the gold and diamond trade will sustain growth in the long run and will remain as the best commodity for investment and as a saving instrument in addition to being used as jewellery. As consumers adjust to the new tax regimes in different countries, we believe, the market will record stronger growth as people adjust their budgets for ornaments,” observed Abdul Salam KP, Group executive director.
Shamlal Ahammed, managing director of Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ International Operations, said, “In 2018, we will be expanding into new horizons, marking our presence in countries such as the US, Sri Lanka, Brunei, and Bangladesh. As part of its global expansion plans, Malabar Gold & Diamonds will be opening another 50 showrooms this year in different formats in various countries.”
It has decided to organise a grand ceremony at Lulu Al Hazana in Sharjah to celebrate crossing the milestone of 200 showrooms globally.
The upcoming showrooms of the group are at Abbasiya (Kuwait), Mannarkad, Mall of Travancore (Kerala), Forum Mall – Bangalore (Karnataka), Himayat Nagar – Hyderabad, Kondapur – Hyderabad, Karim Nagar (Telangana), Noida (UP), South Extension (Delhi), Vashi – Mumbai, Thane – Mumbai, Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Rajkot, Surat (Gujarat) and Ludhiana (Punjab).
In India, the company currently operates manufacturing units in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal and in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
Asher O, managing director – India Operations of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, said, “The group is planning to set up more showrooms as well as manufacturing units in the country, eventually generating more employment opportunities and enhancing initiatives like ‘Make in India’ being implemented by the Government of India. Malabar Group believes that the most successful companies are those which integrate sustainability into their core business.
The group is always proactive when it comes to CSR activities right from the inception. The key focus areas of the CSR initiatives of Malabar Group are in the areas of Health, Education, Women Empowerment, Housing and Environment. The organisation has kept aside 5% of its profit for the CSR activities in all the regions that they operate.