Malabar Gold & Diamonds announces new Brand Ambassador

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the world’s top jewelry retailers, announced that it has signed renowned South Indian actor ‘Suriya' as its brand ambassador.

“We are proud and privileged to join hands with the sensation of today, 'Suriya'. He is very grounded, accessible, celebrated, prestigious and a forward thinker, which are the very values that Malabar Gold & Diamonds identifies with,” said Mr. Ahammed. He also added that, “The aura of commitment, moral and high family values surrounding this strong personality made the brand decide that he is the unanimous choice to represent them”.

During the course of announcing the brand ambassador, Mr. Suriya and Mr. Ahammed also unveiled the latest CSR initiative of the brand — a commitment to educational scholarship for women under its 'Empowering education, Empowering womanhood' initiative in Chennai. This initiative will provide Rs. 2 crore as educational scholarship for 10, 000 higher secondary girl students in government schools across Tamilnadu for a year. The initiative is aimed to create awareness of the importance of educating women in bettering families.

At present, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has four showrooms in Tamilnadu in the cities of Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Salem. A new showroom, at Vishal–De-Mal, Madurai, will be inaugurated on September 9 and take the total count to five. The Group plans to branch out its network in Thanjavur, Dharmapuri, Hosur, Ramanathapuram and also add two showrooms in Chennai at Velacheri and Vadapalani in the year 2012. It also plans to have showrooms in Vellore, Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Trichy, Tuticorin, Tiruvannamalai and Pondicherry in 2013. Malabar Gold & Diamonds aims to set up 35 showrooms across Tamilnadu by 2015 with supply chain centers at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds has announced a four-year expansion plan with an investment of rs. 5,000 crores in order to raise its retail network from its current 70 outlets to 220. The program is expected to create 15,000 jobs and triple the company’s annual turnover to Rs. 30,000 crores (about $6 billion) to make it the world’s leading jewelry brand. As part of the plan, the company is investing over Rs 500 crores ( about $100 million) to roll out more than 20 retail outlets this year. The Group is expanding across India and GCC countries, as well as in UK, USA and the Far-East, including countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, China, and Ceylon. By 2013, the Group plans to launch 22 showrooms across GCC, in addition to its existing 25 showrooms. The domestic expansion plan targets to branch out the network in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Punjab and Haryana.