Italian fashion label, Diesel, has relaunched under new ownership in Australia, with plans to open 20 stores over the next two years. Mandana Holdings took over the local operations of Diesel in Australia last year. The first store to open under the brand’s new leadership is at Melbourne’s Emporium. Sanjay Jain, director of Mandana Holdings, told Inside Retail PREMIUM the rollout is part of a the label’s repositioning in the Australian marketplace as a luxury brand. “This is the f
first store under our stewardship and we do have plans to open more stores,” Jain said.
Diesel’s second store will open later this year on Chapel St, South Yarra. The 400sqm site will be subdivided to include the brand’s head office.
A third store will follow on Flinders Ln in Melbourne’s CBD by the end of the year.
The group plans to open 20 Diesel stores in the next two years, with a focus on the eastern seaboard, with four to six stores to open in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
“The trade at Emporium has confirmed the view that Diesel has a place in this marketplace and it has given us the confidence to roll out a few more stores,” Jain said.
The rollout will be in stages, with Melbourne the first market.
“Melbourne has been the focus for the last 12 months. We’ll hopefully open two or three stores in Sydney next year, and a couple of stores in Brisbane around the same time.
“We’re hoping to rollout about five to seven stores in the next six to 12 months,” Jain said.
“Diesel has been in this marketplace for quite some time, but there were no new stores opened for at least five years. When we took the brand over we didn’t take any existing stores, we wanted to make sure the stores were located in the right locations.”
An online platform, including e-commerce, is also in the pipeline.
“We’re just working through the logistics at the moment, hopefully within the next six to 12 months we’ll have a presence with an e-commerce platform.”
