An Inclusive Fabric

Synonymous with ethnic wear in the country, Fabindia has found the formula that balances social impact with scale

- Anshul Dhamija

On March 1, 2017, Fabindia will start a new chapter in its already significant retail story: A different store format in South Delhi, spread across 10,000 sq ft as opposed to its average 2,500 sq ft.

William Nanda Bissell, managing director, Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd, doesn’t even call it a store. “This will be our first retail experience centre,” he says. “It will have lots of things for every member of the family.” A wellness centre, cafe, alteration unit, and a kids’ zone will be part of this experience centre. And if this proves to be a success, Bissell has plans to roll out 40 such experience centres across the country in 18 months. “We are now looking at a new face of retail where we are transitioning from retail as being a product transaction to retail as an experience.”

Over the last decade-and-a-half, Bissell—and Fabindia—has built the right foundation to make such transformatory moves.

Take just the last financial year. Seated in his corner office, in Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-2, New Delhi, 50-year-old Bissell looks back at FY16—when the company undertook its largest retail store rollout in the country—with satisfaction. “The store rollout was 29. This year [FY17] we have projected for 32 new stores,” he says and then arches his eyebrows to add, “In the next financial year [FY18], we are planning on opening between 60 and 80 stores.” If all goes according to plan, FY18 could well be a watershed year in the company’s 67-year-old history.