Apparel and accessories player Cantabil International is preparing to set up 280 outlets of its 'Cantabil' and 'Lafanso' brands across the country by March 2010.

The newly planned stores would be spread across metros, tier-I and tier-II cities and each store would be of 500-6,000 square ft in area. Out of total proposed stores, 80 would be Cantabil (premium segment) and 130 would be Lafanso (discount segment).

A company official revealed that all the new stores of Lafanso would be set up under the franchise model while and among the planned 80 Cantabil stores, half would be company-owned and the rest would operate under franchise model.

Presently, the company is focusing more on the franchise model for its expansion.

Offering a response to a query related with retail expansion, a top company executive said, "As most of the new outlets would be franchise operated, the investments would be made by the franchise partners. We would be investing around Rs 20 crore from internal accrual for the 40-odd Cantabil stores which are to be owned by the company."