American company signs agreement to help open outlet centers in India

The Outlet Resource Group, a Chicago-based company that operates eight outlet centers in the United States, is setting out to help introduce the bargain retail segment to India.

TORG has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Indian company Village Groupe, which fashions itself as a “new-age” developer of retail projects in major cities such as New Delhi, Bangalore, and Pune. It brought TORG into order to develop the operations and marketing skills the company has applied in U.S. centers such as OKC Outlets in Oklahoma City and Outlets Nags Head in North Carolina.

“Whilst anyone with money can build a mall, not everyone can operate it profitably, and outlet malls are altogether a different ball game,” said Village Groupe CEO Deepak Kumar Sharma. “In TORG International we have found a group of professionals with a proven outlet track record eager to help us develop world-class outlet centers.”

TORG has long been an active development partner in foreign markets that include Australia, Poland, Panama, Sweden, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has helped reposition underperforming assets with high-demand new tenants and even represents some of them, like Automat Kitchen and the August Moon theatre, bar, and grill.

“I have been coming to India for the last 20 years and I have always been convinced that outlets would do well in this country of close to 1.4 billion people,” said TORG International partner Barbara Horatz. “We feel that now, in the post COVID era, the time has finally come to pave the way for next-generation type of outlets in India.”

Added Sharma: “We Indians love a bargain, and we are convinced that outlets have a great future over here.”