Habib salon chain plans international expansion

Kolkata, April 19 (IANS) Salon chain Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty Limited (JHHBL) is planning to expand business internationally and venture into haircare products to increase profitability.

"We will open our first overseas salon in Singapore in June, which will be followed up by three more salons in London," chairman Jawed Habib told mediapersons here.

The company is also planning to open 5,000 salons across the country in the next few years. "All of them will be based on franchise model," Habib added.

At present, JHHBL has 312 salons and 45 academies in India. The company is currently opening approximately eight salons a month.

The salon industry is pegged at around Rs.7,000 crore and it is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 35 per cent.

About diversifying into the product segment, JHHBL Executive Director Rohit Arora said the company will have the advantage of moving from services to products, just as salons like Lakme and L'Oreal had moved from products to services.

He said among all the regions of the country, West Bengal is the most revenue-generating, followed by Hyderabad and Gujarat.

The company is planning to open premium salons in several parts of the state, including Haldia, Kharagpur, Malda, Barasat, Barrackpore and Behrampore.