By: Chanda Kumar
Last updated : February 11, 2026 3:15 pm
In an exclusive interaction with Retail4Growth, Sujata Biswas, Co-founder of Suta, shares insights into the brand’s strategic offline expansion and how it aims to preserve the brand’s ethos while scaling-up.
Sisters Sujata Biswas and Taniya Biswas revived traditional weaves and sparked a renewed appreciation for the “forgotten saree” when they launched Suta, a popular digital-first saree and apparel brand in 2016. After building a strong online presence, the brand forayed into offline retail only in 2022. Today, Suta operates 19 stores across Tier 1 and emerging cities, with offline contributing nearly 35% to its overall revenue.
Witnessing the rapid growth of this channel, the brand is not only expanding its physical footprint across India but is also set to go international, with its first overseas store slated to open in Mauritius soon. Speaking to Retail4Growth, Sujata Biswas, Co-founder of Suta, shares that as stores mature and customer relationships deepen, offline retail is poised to become an even more significant part of the brand’s business in the years ahead.
Can you tell us about your offline retail expansion strategy?
Our offline expansion has been intentional and carefully planned. We currently operate 19 stores across high-footfall malls and prominent high-street locations in key cities, with a clear focus on building experience-led, profitable spaces rather than chasing scale. As we grow, we’re also stepping beyond borders - two of our upcoming stores will be international, marking an exciting new chapter for the brand.
We see significant international potential, where our approach will begin with participating in exhibitions or pop-ups to test the market, followed by a more strategic entry. By the next fiscal year, we aim to reach 40 stores in total.
How has Suta stores successfully expanded across India’s diverse markets?
The brand has found that deepening presence within a metro with multiple stores in cities like Kolkata, Pune, Bengaluru, and Mumbai works well, as it allows marketing spends to be optimised and brand recall to strengthen within a catchment. Delhi NCR, too, now has two stores, and second outlets are being considered for cities like Chennai and Hyderabad.
Beyond metros, the focus is on saree-wearing markets that may not be strong online shopping destinations but have significant offline potential. Cities such as Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad have exceeded expectations, prompting expansion plans. Pune’s strong performance led to a second store, while markets like Raipur, Nagpur, Nashik, and Baroda (the upcoming 20th store) are being explored.
How has going offline helped drive the brand’s growth?
Stores will be a strong focus for us in the coming year. We’ve seen that multiple categories perform well in an offline environment. While our hero products continue to be sarees and blouses, menswear has been doing exceptionally well in stores. That’s encouraging and reinforces our belief that physical retail will play a key role in driving growth.
If menswear continues to perform strongly, we may even explore spinning it off as a separate brand or launching a standalone menswear store. It’s too early to say which category we’ll double down on long term, but menswear is definitely an area we’re investing in through our store expansion this year.
Can you tell us about Suta’s store design and experience at retail?
Our stores are designed to feel warm, calm, and like home. When someone walks into a Suta store, the idea is not to overwhelm them or push sales, but to make them feel comfortable - so much so that they naturally spend time, browse slowly, and connect with the space. That’s the true USP of our stores.
To create this feeling, we put a lot of thought into art and storytelling within the space. While every Suta store carries a familiar aesthetic, we also consciously adapt each store to its location and state.
What are the major learnings after going offline?
One of our biggest learnings has been around inventory freshness and visual merchandising. While online bestsellers can drive revenue for long periods, offline customers expect something new each time they walk in. We’ve also learned that online and offline customers behave very differently. Online purchases are influenced by photography, styling, and presentation. In-store, however, the touch, feel, fall, and texture of the fabric become decisive. That shift has been a game-changer for us. Most importantly, training and retaining store staff is critical. In offline retail, the store team is the face of the brand. They must reflect the same warmth and clarity that customers experience online.
How do you maintain the brand’s ethos and vibe as you scale beyond the first few stores?
For us, it’s about striking a balance between standardisation and innovation, retaining the feeling of a homegrown brand even as we scale. Through our content, messaging, and product design, we’re consciously trying to preserve that warmth. Ultimately, the product has to remain the reason customers keep coming back.
At the same time, we’re standardising operations and managing 20 running stores — but customers shouldn’t feel that scale. When they walk in, the experience should still feel personal, as though every product has been thoughtfully handpicked for them. That’s where merchandising becomes critical. Presenting products in a way that feels curated and intuitive requires enormous behind-the-scenes effort from the team. When the connection with customers is strong, they will want to return to the store.