Reliance Retail plans to open 50 exclusive stores of American apparel brand Gap by the end of this year, said a top company official.

As part of the strategy, Gap’s offering would also consist of Indian preferences in designs and colours and select patterns, said Reliance Retailpresident and CEO, Fashion &Lifestyle, Akhilesh Prasad.

Reliance Retail on Friday announced the opening of its first freestanding Gap store in India in Mumbai.

After opening over 50 Gap shop-in-shops stores since last year, Reliance Retail has now initiated the second phase, in which it plans a similar number of exclusive stores.

When asked about the expansion, Prasad said: “We would be opening 50 stores in the next 12 months.”

Reliance plans to take the Gap brand beyond developed metro markets. It has plans to open Gap stores in mini-metros, the state capitals and then down to cities with 3 lakh to 5lakh population.

“Initially we will be targeting the top 10 cities,” he said.

Gap’s range of offerings would also have “Indian inspiration” and “Indian designs”.

On pricing, Prasad said, Gap would not be a high priced brand compared with other luxury brands operating in India. It would be a premium brand with prices starting from Rs 900 for a T-shirt and then go upwards.

India now has a substantial number of people who have used the Gap brand products, and follows global trends and international fashion brands.

“We believe that Gap can grow much faster and quicker in India,” Prasad said.

Earlier Gap had a partnership with Arvind Lifestyle Brands, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arvind Fashions, which was mutually terminated in 2020.

Two years later Gap partnered with Reliance Retail. According to Prasad, offerings by Gap this time in partnership with Reliance Retail would be different.