Interview: Shamlal Ahamed of Malabar Gold Expects Annual Turnover to Exceed Rs 45,000 Crore by 2023

Malabar Gold & Diamonds is good at growth. Not only does this jeweller have numbers and ambition, it also has heart. On MGD’s 25th anniversary The Retail Jeweller learns about its plans for future growth, business as well as human.

One of the world’s largest jewellery retailers, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, is about to celebrate its silver jubilee. Twenty-five years after inception, this already outstanding success story has announced an ambitious, new, global growth plan for the next five years. By 2023, MGD expects, its annual turnover will exceed Rs 45,000 crore ($6.16 billion) — a significant boost from Rs 25,500 crore in 2017-18.

Shamlal Ahamed, Managing Director, International operations, tells the Retail Jeweller about the company’s vision of building a global retail network to take India inspired designs to the world. MGD will accomplish this, he says, by means of a new retail format designed to leverage
the enormous market for gifting goods and everyday wear.

TRJ: MGD is among the fastest-growing retail jewellery chains in the country. What are your plans for future expansion?

SA: We will have 250 stores by the end of this year and aim to triple the number of outlets over the next five years. We currently have retail outlets in 10 countries, including India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States — which is the latest country to be added to our portfolio.We will continue to strengthen our retail footprint in states where we have a strong presence, of course, and we will also expand across all Tier 1 and Tier II cities in north and central India. The company also plans a major expansion in international markets, including new territories such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, Egypt and Turkey.

TRJ: Alongside the growth in your retail footprint, do you also plan to build up particular retail formats and market segments?

SA: The culture of gifting lives long. Human beings will continue to express their love, affection and emotion toward their loved ones. We will strengthen the gifting aspect of jewellery, which is a fast-growing segment in India and other countries, and use it as a growth driver for our
jewellery business. Our aim is to be number one in this segment. We already have introduced the concept of MGD Lifestyle Jewellery, comprising smaller-format stores that offer daily wear, small-ticket jewellery and lifestyle articles.

TRJ: Malabar has a very unique business model. How will that model translate into the new markets? Please tell us about your investment plans for those markets.

SA: Our group has a unique business model in which its expansion is fuelled by investors who become shareholders in different entities, via a very transparent ownership model. MGD currently has over 2,752 investors, 19.4 percent of whom are full-time employees with the Group.They include front-end managers as well as directors. This structure makes us a transparent and accountable organisation, one with a solid foundation, where every
investor has a financial and a moral stake in the company. MGD plans to invest Rs 7,000 crore ($960 million) in the current growth and expansion plan, by expanding its investor base. Our ambitious retail expansion in states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh will be supported by a new set of investors from these very regions.

To read this entire interview and for other interesting stories click here: Retail Jeweller Middle East E-magazine