ITC departs lifestyle retailing business

After a strategic review of the business portfolio, ITC Ltd has exited from lifestyle retailing business.

The company entered the lifestyle retailing business more than two decades ago under the Wills Lifestyle brand. Under the brand, it sold a wide range of clothing, including formal, casual, evening and designer wear.

John Players had a menswear range of casuals, denims, formals and accessories.

In 2019 the company undertook a restructuring of the lifestyle retailing business, reducing the operations of the vertical and selling the John Players brand to Reliance Retail for an undisclosed amount.

After a strategic review of its business portfolio, the company has left the lifestyle retailing business, ITC said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Last month, ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri said that the company was liquidating some old inventory of Wills brand left in a few stores and there was no plans to continue the business.

In the past, ITC had said that its lifestyle retailing business was adversely impacted by e-commerce players which aggressively pushed to capture market share amongst value-seeking consumers by offering heavy discounts and launching exclusive labels and brands.