MAM
Raymond to increase brand-specific stores
BANGALORE: As part of its strategy to open exclusive Park Avenue stores in the country, Park Avenue launched its first exclusive store in Bangalore.
Located at Brigade Road, the Park Avenue store was inaugurated by Raymond Group president Pradeep Bhandari.
Speaking on the launch, Bhandari said, “This launch marks our entry in Southern India with this exclusive branded store from Raymond Apparel Ltd. The first Park Avenue store, launched in January 2005 in Mumbai, has received an overwhelming response. We plan to open around 15 more Park Avenue stores in the next 12 to 18 months all over India.”
“We plan to bring in more brand exclusive outlets. We’ve around 290 Raymond outlets, 20 of them owned or managed by Raymond which retail only all our brands. As has been the norm we shall continue growing at the rate of 25-30 new outlets every year, besides, we’ve also invested around Rs 1 billion across three apparel manufacturing plants in and around Bangalore,” added Bhandari.
Raymond has four brands, three through their 100 per cent subsidiary Raymond Apparel Ltd (RAL). RAL has in its folio three highly regarded men’s wear brands including Park Avenue, Parx and Manzoni.
Park Avenue registers counter sales of around RS 1.5 billion (RS 1.1 billion ex-factory) annually, while all the brands bring in around RS 3.6 billion. Bhandari expects the two Park Avenue stores in Mumbai and Bangalore to rake in around RS 35-37 million during this fiscal. The turnover for the Raymond group, which had exited their cement business some time ago by hiving it off to a French cement major, is RS 18 billion.
Brands
Beep App launches Gen-Z career platform, clocks 30,000 plus placements
Pune startup turns scrolling into career action with learn-explore-earn model
PUNE: Beep App has rolled out its newly positioned career-focused app aimed at Gen-Z users, as it looks to bridge what it calls a growing gap between exposure and employability among young Indians.
Formerly known as EventBeep, the platform is built around a simple but timely idea: turning everyday scrolling into meaningful career action. The app targets students and early professionals, offering a unified space to explore career options, learn relevant skills and access internships and job opportunities.
At a time when short-form content dominates screen time, Beep is attempting to flip the script by embedding structured, career-oriented insights within a familiar scroll-based interface. The idea is not to disrupt user behaviour, but to redirect it.
The platform spans a wide range of fields, including artificial intelligence, product management, design and data analytics. It provides users with insights into role expectations, required skills and step-by-step career pathways, supported by inputs from industry practitioners.
At the heart of the offering is a “learn, explore, earn” model that integrates discovery, skill-building and hiring into one ecosystem. The company says this closed-loop approach is already gaining traction, with over 30,000 placements facilitated so far.
“Gen-Z does not lack ambition; what they often lack is structured direction,” said Beep App founder and CEO Saurabh Mangrulkar. “The Beep App is designed to organise that exposure into actionable pathways so users can move from intent to execution with greater confidence.”
The launch comes amid a broader shift in India’s job market towards skills-first hiring, where practical experience and demonstrable capabilities are increasingly valued alongside academic qualifications.
Founded in 2021, Beep App has grown steadily within the student ecosystem, connecting over 6.5 million users with opportunities across more than 1,500 colleges and 7,800 hiring companies.
Looking ahead, the company plans to deepen its content across emerging sectors, expand its hiring network and build more personalised career pathways tailored to user behaviour.
As Gen-Z continues to navigate a complex and fast-evolving job market, platforms that can turn curiosity into clarity may well shape the next wave of career discovery.
