Malabar Gold and Diamonds opens its 300th showroom in Dallas

Malabar Gold and Diamonds has continued its expansion drive and inaugurated its 300th showroom in Dallas, United States, to showcase its products in the world’s largest market in terms of gross domestic product.

The new showroom has a stunning display of more than 30,000 jewellery designs from 20 countries across gold, diamonds, precious gems and platinum, catering to the design preferences of those residing in and around Dallas.

Susan Fletcher, Collin County Commissioner, and Jeff Cheney, Mayor of Frisco (Texas), jointly inaugurated the showroom in the presence of Shamlal Ahamed, managing director for International Operations at Malabar Gold & Diamonds.

M P Ahammed, chairman, Malabar Group; KP Abdul Salam, vice-chairman, Malabar Group; O Asher, managing director for India Operations, dignitaries and other team members attended the event virtually.

“It is a moment of great pride for us as we touch the 300th mark with this new showroom in Dallas. We started off with a small showroom in Calicut, Kerala, India and today, in less than 30 years, we have a strong retail presence of 300 showrooms across 10 countries; all thanks to our customers, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders,” MP Ahammed said.

Creating job opportunities

With an annual turnover of $4.1 billion, the company currently ranks as the 6th largest jewellery retailer globally and today has a strong retail network of 300 outlets spread across 10 countries in addition to multiple offices, design centres, wholesale units and factories spread across India, Middle East, Far East and the United States.

The group, owned by more than 4,000 shareholders, has more than 16,500 professionals from over 26 countries working towards its continued success. It has immediate expansion plans into the UK, Bangladesh, Australia, Egypt, Canada, Turkey, South Africa and is expected to create approximately 6,000 job opportunities in the retail, manufacturing, technical and management areas related to jewellery trade.

“We will continue to strengthen our retail presence in the regions where we have established a robust presence, as well as enter new markets with our differentiated products, services and assurances. The acceptance and patronage received by the brand gives us the confidence to further speed up the expansion process in becoming the No: 1 jewellery retailer globally,” MP Ahammed said.

Key role in jewellery making

Abdul Salam KP said Malabar Gold and Diamonds has played a vital role in making Indian jewellery more acceptable and trustworthy at the global level in recent years.

“We are now crafting unique experiences targeting the individual and specific preferences of our customers. As the design discovery and initial decision-making of most customers are happening online these days, we are focusing greatly on strengthening our omnichannel retail strategy, for which we are making use of the services of global technology giants like Microsoft, IBM, Accenture, E&Y, Deloitte etc,” he said.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds is renowned globally for offering an unparalleled jewellery buying experience with convenience, and customer-friendly policies along with the ‘Malabar Promise’ of incomparable quality and service assurance.

Malabar Promise includes assured lifetime maintenance from any of the showrooms across 10 countries, guaranteed buyback, IGI and GIA-certified diamonds ensuring 28-point quality check of global standards, zero deduction gold exchange, complete transparency, 916 hallmarked pure gold, responsible sourcing, fair price policy and fair labour practices.

Expansion into new markets

Shamlal Ahamed is upbeat about the expansion plan of the jewellery brand and said Malabar Group will continue to explore new markets in coming months.

“We are very excited about our future growth plan and will immediately be expanding into new markets, including the UK, Bangladesh, Australia and Canada, followed by Egypt, Turkey and South Africa,” he said.

Apart from this, he said the group will further strengthen its retail footprint within the existing markets as well.

“We constantly make efforts to evolve in line with the diverse preferences of our multicultural and multinational customers, as part of which we will focus further on product variety and a superior shopping experience, in addition to opening more stand-alone stores for local customers of the respective regions,” Shamlal said.

Indian market focus

O Asher said the group will strengthen its presence in Indian market by expanding into new areas of the world’s fastest growing economy.

“We have an ambitious retail expansion plan in India as well, especially in the North and Central Indian states and are gearing up in a big way to enter new territories as well by setting higher standards in the jewellery trade. We understand the sensitivity of the industry and ensure compliance through responsible sourcing, ethical business practices, and transparent and professional fund management,” he said.

“Our association with trade bodies, financial houses, and government regulators help to ensure that our operations are infallible globally’, he said.

Manufacturing capabilities

Nishad AK, group executive director for manufacturing and B2B at Malabar Group, said the group will further strengthen its manufacturing capabilities to support its retail expansion drive globally.

“We will also be hiring skilled artisans and related staff as part of this process. This will also further bolster our mission, “Make in India, Market to the World.”

“Keeping in line with the brand’s outlook as a responsible jeweller, all our ongoing and upcoming facilities have and will be designed to provide safe and pleasant working conditions to the employees,” he said.

Malabar Group believes that the most successful companies are those which integrate responsibility and sustainability into their core business and commit five per cent of their profit to support socially responsible purposes both in India and abroad, since its inception in 1993. Hunger, health, education, women empowerment, housing and environment are the key focus areas for the group.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Plans to further speed up the expansion process in becoming the No 1 jewellery retailer globally

• Immediate expansion plans into the UK, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa

• The group is expected to create approximately 6,000 job opportunities in the retail, manufacturing, technical and management areas related to jewellery trade

• Malabar Gold and Diamonds has an annual turnover of $4.1 billion

• The group has more than 16,500 professionals from over 26 countries

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com

• Business