Tumi turns to India

Luxury luggage brand Tumi will be entering the Indian market this year. The Murjani Group plans to open 10 freestanding Tumi stores in India by 2010, with the first store opening planned for later this year either in Delhi or Mumbai. "The first brand we (launched) in India was Tommy Hilfiger in 2004," Murjani Group chairman Mohan Morjani told WWD. The group also launched other brands like Gloria Vanderbilt in India .

The brand has experienced a strong international expansion in the past few years. Last year the New Jersey-based company opened stores in Frankfurt and Tokyo and in Houston , New York and Hawaii . It plans to open 10 European and Asian stores this year, including Athens , Berlin , Rome , Barcelona , Moscow and Amsterdam . It also plans to open 10 stores in the US this year. The brand has 56 stores worldwide.

"We're quite serious about international diversification," Tumi chief executive Laurence Franklin told WWD, pointing out that two-thirds of the brand's business is generated outside the US . "Our focus has been on markets that can appreciate a premium brand and also have an understanding and appreciation of design and quality. The Indian marketplace will become an important marketplace."