Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd has reported 30 percent quarterly growth for Reebok India, with same-store sales in double digits and a network passing more than 200 stores. The franchise-driven rollout is targeting secondary cities at a pace direct-operated peers are struggling to match.
Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd (ABLBL), the Indian conglomerate holding the exclusive Reebok license for the subcontinent, has reported approximately 30 percent revenue growth for Reebok’s India business in the quarter to March. The result was underpinned by sustained double-digit like-for-like (LFL) sales gains and a store network that has passed 210 locations.
The company plans to open around 40–50 new Reebok outlets annually for the foreseeable future, targeting not just established metropolitan markets but an expanding tier of secondary cities and emerging mall catchments that now account for a growing share of India’s sportswear demand.
The numbers represent a meaningful acceleration.
Reebok’s India sales have roughly doubled over the past three years, according to the company. That trajectory reflects a reconstruction of the business under a new licensing architecture after a crisis that shook the brand in India in the 2010s.
How the ABG model reaches places direct-operated peers can’t
Authentic Brands Group (ABG)’s global model is built on separating brand ownership from operational execution: it retains the intellectual property while appointing regional operators who carry the capital expenditure burden of physical retail. In India, that operator has been Aditya ABLBL since 2021.
The arrangement appears to give Reebok rollout speed, including in smaller towns where new malls and retail destinations are constantly appearing across the country, creating fresh entry opportunities, according to Kumar.
India’s organised sportswear market has historically been concentrated in major metropolitan areas. But mall development has accelerated sharply in tier-two and tier-three cities over the past five years: locations where the economics of a franchise-operated, asset-light store model work considerably better than a corporate-operated flagship. ABLBL’s ability to sign franchise partners who know local real estate and manage working capital locally is a structural advantage that fully direct-operated rivals are still building toward.
| Reebok India — Key milestones under ABLBL | |||
| 2021–2026 | |||
| Year | Milestone | Store network | Growth indicator |
| 2021 | ABFRL signs long-term exclusive licensing agreement with Authentic Brands Group for Reebok in India and select ASEAN markets | – | – |
| 2021–2023 | Network rebuild under ABFRL; franchise partner recruitment and omnichannel infrastructure established | – | – |
| 2023–2024 | ABFRL demerger; Reebok operations transfer to newly formed Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd (ABLBL) | – | – |
| 2023–2026 | Sales roughly double over three-year period; double-digit LFL growth sustained consistently across store estate | – | ~2× revenue growth |
| Q1 2026 | Quarter to March: approximately 30% revenue growth reported; Multi-Court Shoes range cited as recent product contributor | 210+ | ~30% revenue growth |
| 2026 onward | ABLBL targets 40–50 new store openings annually; secondary cities and emerging mall locations named as primary expansion focus | +40–50 per year (target) | – |
Source: ABLBL earnings call, Q1 2026; Economic Times Retail, June 2026. Store counts and growth figures as reported by the company. Absolute revenue figures not publicly disclosed.
The Reebok India precedent and what it signals for the market
For European and global sporting goods brands watching India, the ABLBL–Reebok structure offers a distribution template worth examining. The combination of a long-term exclusive license granted to a conglomerate with deep domestic franchise capabilities, targeting mass-market price points across urban and sub-urban geographies, differs sharply from the flagship-first, DTC-led entry strategies that have characterised much of the premium sportswear playbook in the market.
Reebok sits in a crowded price band in India — competing against adidas, PUMA, and domestic challengers — but its recovery to date suggests a franchise-driven model tuned to secondary market realities can build volume fast.
For ABG, the India numbers arrive at a moment when the group’s portfolio approach continues to attract scrutiny over whether asset-light IP holding is a durable model or a bet that local operators will consistently invest ahead of growth. In India, at least for now, ABLBL appears to be doing exactly that.
