Nitin Mohan, Co-Founder & Director, Blackberrys

Homegrown menswear brand Blackberrys is aiming for a strong retail expansion this year with a focus on both the tier-1 as well as tier-2 towns amidst growing demand for the premium segment. The company also aims to invest ₹100 crore in the next 2-3 years on product design and strengthening tech and supply chain capabilities. 

“These are interesting times for the menswear category as consumers’ aspirations are evolving and at the same time premiumisation is gaining ground. We want to continue with the retail expansion momentum and aim to open 70 stores this year. We had opened about 55 last year,” Nitin Mohan, Co-Founder & Director, Blackberrys told businessline.

He noted that the brand is expanding into tier-2 and tier-3 towns as well as new catchments in the large cities. “We are witnessing strong demand trends in tier-2 and tier-3 towns as they are emerging as centres of trade and enterprises. Currently, nearly 40 per cent of our business comes from these cities,” Mohan added.

Currently, the brand has 400 exclusive retail stores across 150 cities and is also sold through 1,200 multi-brand outlets. “Since Covid we have pivoted to partnerships and franchisee owned store models after completely focusing on company-owned stores in the past. So our recent expansion has been led by franchisee partners as it allows us to scale up faster,” he explained.

The brand witnessed single digit growth year-on-year in FY26. “Growth has not been a straight line in the past 2-3 years and there have been periods of high growth followed by periods of tepid demand for the apparel industry. But the consumption story of India remains intact. We are aiming for a double-digit growth in FY27,” Mohan said.

Online channel currently contributes about 10 per cent to the overall brand sales. “The e-commerce space is moving at a fast clip. We have strong partnerships with the marketplaces. We have also curated a line for the quick commerce platforms especially for gifting,” Mohan noted.

Amidst geopolitical headwinds, the premium menswear brand is also reducing reliance on imports with a focus on indigenisation with a strong focus on investments in product development. “We have plans to invest about ₹100 crore in the coming years on retail expansion as well on technology capabilities, innovation in terms of product design as well as strengthening supply chain,” Mohan said.

Responding to a query on white spaces for the brand, Mohan said, “Tailored casual wear has emerged as an interesting opportunity. Also, there is a growing demand for performance and our collection Tech Pro has been developed with R&D.”

Published on June 16, 2026