Dubai-based Landmark Group‘s department store chain Lifestyle has plans to open 12-14 outlets every year in malls in India, but its expansion may take a hit next year due to unavailability of tier-one malls as none of the top developers have any prime property in the pipeline, chief executive Devarajan Iyer said.
Lifestyle typically operates out of 40,000-plus sq ft. “We prefer malls very clearly. Malls are doing far better than high streets in India. So, first of all, to get that kind of space as well, we are facing a new challenge because there are not many. Class-A mall developers are not creating these kinds of malls now,” Iyer told ET.
For example, there is not a single mall that will come up next year by Phoenix, DLF or the Prestige Group, Iyer said. “They are in the pipeline, but nothing next year,” he said.
Lifestyle has also started working with developers like Phoenix, DLF and the Pacific Group to co-identify locations for malls.
“A typical Phoenix mall will be 800,000 sq ft. Landmark Group together will take close to 100,000 sq ft between various formats such as Lifestyle, Max, Home Center, Fun City and Baby Shop all put together. It’s very high stakes for us too,” said Iyer.
Lifestyle currently operates 125 stores in India. Among its rivals, Shopper’s Stop had 111 stores, Reliance Retail’s Azorte operated more than 40 stores and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail‘s Pantaloons had 403 outlets as of end-September.
Lifestyle posted a 42% rise in profit at ₹415 crore for fiscal 2025. Total revenue rose 5.7% to ₹12,031 crore.
While Lifestyle has a low presence in ecommerce, which contributes 6% to its sales, Iyer said the retail chain will launch same-day online deliveries by January, starting with Bengaluru. Ecommerce is growing at 20% for Lifestyle. “We are very focused on profitability. With ecommerce, we don’t want to create a Frankenstein where it becomes so big, making huge losses that it just disrupts the whole business,” he said.
In fashion, consumers don’t want deliveries in 10 minutes, he said. “It’s not that kind of category, so we are attempting same-day delivery to begin with. And if you find success there, then it’s easier for us to crunch it.” Similar to Myntra’s M-Express, the feature will allow deliveries within four hours to a day, depending on the availability of the product from the store in the area which will do the fulfilment.
Iyer said footwear, which caters 7-8% of the chain’s total revenue, will make a comeback after Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) issues are settled. The BIS has made it mandatory for retailers and companies to take its approval for the factories from where they source footwear.
