P. VENKATESALU, managing director, Trent, comes across as shy and reclusive, quite similar to his boss, chairman Noel Tata. “We have preferred to stay quiet unlike some of our group companies which are more outgoing,” he says, visibly conscious and uncomfortable of the cameras focussing on him. Once he settles down in the couch with some piping hot chai in the signature blue and green stripped Westside mug, he seems more at ease. A thoroughbred Tata employee, Venkatesalu joined the group through TAS (Tata Administrative Services) in 2001 and has been with Trent since 2008, first as CFO and now MD.

Like most Tata companies, the playbook at Trent was also to build a robust business rooted in the Tata culture. Chasing growth was never the plan. The retail industry playbook, on the contrary, was to run after hyperactive growth. When Trent launched its flagship format, Westside, in 1998, it already had competition from the likes of Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, which were a house of third-party brands. The departmental store concept was new, and selling a portfolio of brands under a single roof did lead to fast-paced growth. But the growth came at the cost of profitability. The per-sq.-ft revenue of most retailers wasn’t sustainable, and they often ended up with unsold inventory. While competition kept tweaking inventory and cutting down not just the number of stores but also the size of each store, Noel and his mother Simone Tata decided to stay away from the brand frenzy. They chose to be a private label store, a concept that global stalwarts such as Zara, H&M, and Marks & Spencer had mastered quite well.

“What Mr Tata and his mother said was that we need to be differentiated. They said, let’s take an approach where, even if it is slower to build equity, let’s build something more differentiated from what’s available in the market. That ethos has stayed with the business even today,” says Venkatesalu.

Even if there is pain in the short-term, one should make choices that have a medium-to-long-term joy and cultural anchoring, rather than build something that delivers an outcome for a few quarters or for a year — this was the philosophy drilled into Venkatesalu by the mother-son duo. The Trent head honcho has religiously toed his mentors’ rulebook — be it Westside, Zudio, SAMOH, or its newest offering Burnt Toast (a Gen Z fashion retail brand), private label is the name of the game for the retail major. From classy in-store fashion brands such as Bombay Paisley, Utsa, LOV or WES Formals, footwear brands such as Luna Blu and Soleplay, or beauty brands StudioWest and Zudio Beauty, Trent is all about high-quality, value-for-money private brands built over an extended period of time.

Till 2008-09, Trent barely had 50-odd Westside stores (currently 248 across 86 cities). Most of the scaling, in fact, happened over the past decade. “It’s not to say that you can’t build a retail business that grows fast, it’s just to say that initial phases are going to be tougher and you have to stay with it with some level of conviction,” explains Venkatesalu, who believes this kind of patience in retail is unusual. The strategy was to build a strong, profitable business model first, and scale later.

The fact that its entire business rested on the foundation of private brands ensured Trent was a high-margin business from day one. The strategy of cautiously adding stores in the first two decades aided profitability. The company also made sure it didn’t go overboard with the size of the stores. An average Westside store was not more than 30,000-40,000 sq. ft, while many of its competitors struggled to justify the per-sq.-ft revenue of their stores, which were upwards of 50,000 sq. ft.

For Venkatesalu, however, margins or store sizes are incidental. The biggest advantage, according to him, is the differentiation that Trent has because of its own branded products. Walk into a Westside store, and the promise is a stylish dress or a pair of sandals at a price one wouldn’t find anywhere!

With profits as high as ₹1,547 crore in FY25, according to database provider Capitaline, Trent is one of the most profitable retail companies in India. Over the past decade, it has been on a high growth trajectory. In fact, Trent’s most successful format is not Westside, but value fashion retail brand Zudio, which has 765 stores across 235 cities. In addition, there are 78 Star (grocery retail) stores across 10 cities and five SAMOH (premium ethnic wear brand) stores in four cities. It has also given its ethnic wear brand, Utsa, a separate identity by launching 20 stores across 13 cities. Besides, Zudio Beauty also has five exclusive stores across India.

Over the past three years (FY22-25), Trent’s net sales have registered a CAGR of 56.2%, while PAT CAGR has jumped 144.5%. “Without having done the runway part of it in the first 10-15 years, I am not so sure this business model would have worked as well in the following 10 years,” says Venkatesalu.

Trent also launched its international operations last year, with four Zudio stores in the U.A.E. But why Zudio, and not Westside? Venkatesalu says Zudio has a tighter format (10,000-15,000 sq. ft), and hence an easier option to experiment with. But the company isn’t averse to launching other premium formats, he clarifies. “It’s just a choice at a point in time. In terms of doing a pilot, it felt easier to go with the Zudio model. In fact, all our stores in the U.A.E. are doing quite well.”

Being digital-first for a fashion brand is kind of a given. However, Trent has chosen to be physical-only with its value brand Zudio, while Westside and Burnt Toast are omni-channel. In fact, 5-6% of Westside’s revenues come from online sales. But considering that the bulk of India buys value fashion from Myntra or Amazon, doesn’t Zudio run the risk of losing out by being physical only?

Venkatesalu’s rationale is indeed thought-provoking. He says a physical-only presence simplifies the business because the cost of serving the online channel is quite high, and may not make sense for a brand that has an average selling price of ₹500-800. “I guess you need a different set of muscles to play that at scale. It can be played and there are models that have worked very well. That said, not one apparel brand has a double-digit market share. It is unlikely that a customer, if you take the critical mass of customers, would shop from only one brand. It has got to be multiple [brands]. At the same time, the centre of gravity would be three-five brands and not 20. If you are in the concentration set of a critical mass of audience, then you are relevant at least at a point in time,” he explains.

The question now is what does one do to stay relevant? “As fashion retail brands, we need to evolve, because the customer is evolving. For instance, the Westside of 2005 was very different from 2015, to what it is in 2025.”

While being contemporary, stylish and high on quality are table-stakes, pricing is Trent’s most important differentiator. While a Westside is positioned at the premium end, Zudio is the value offering and SAMOH is the bridge to luxury. Burnt Toast, with its positioning for the premium Gen Z consumers, brings the demographic angle. However, the single thread, which runs across formats, is the fact that they only sell private labels — and that gives them a distinct competitive edge. “The price point may be ₹299 or ₹4,999... we deliver great value at those price points. Now, with that as an ethos, we are playing at a certain set of price points in Zudio, certain set of price points in Burnt Toast and certain set of price points in Westside, with different handwritings and sensibilities.”

Trent has also used the private brands playbook in its hypermarkets business, Star (a JV with the U.K.’s Tesco), where 70% of revenues come from its own brands. Though Star’s in-house brands have a fan following among its loyalists, the hypermarket business is yet to show the kind of scale and growth the fashion business has amassed. If one were to argue in Trent’s favour, grocery is a much more complex business, especially in India.

“We are adopting the same playbook in the Star business, with the customer proposition led by own brands. Given the growing organic customer traction, we believe Star has much potential in building out a substantial business over the medium term,” Venkatesalu says.

Like it did with Westside, the Tata group’s retail arm is probably on the path of charting out yet another ‘slow-and-steady-wins-the-race’ growth story for its hypermarket business as well.

Ups and downs are common in any business and the last few months have not been easy for Trent. Its share price has tanked and analysts say the company has gone overboard with expansion. But Venkatesalu’s agenda is to evolve and stay tuned to consumer needs. The Westside or Zudio we are seeing today could be way different a decade from now, he says. But then, evolution is the name of the game.