Chennai Retail Summit

Senthil Kumar

Senthil Kumar

CBO,
Dindigul Thalappakatti

Senthil comes with over 25+ years of proven experience in building multi-format retail concepts, managing complex operations, delivering great customer experience across channels, and creating value for investors. He is one of the few retail professionals who have worked across luxury large-format retail, multi-format value fashion, premium beauty retail, and F&B retail.

Senthil is currently the Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Dindigul Thalappakatti, India's largest and No:1 Biryani casual dining restaurant chain with 100+ outlets across India, US, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. A portfolio company of CX Partners, one of India’s leading PE funds. He spearheads the overall growth strategy of the brand, which includes Operations, Expansion, HR, Customer Experience, Delivery, and Marketing. The key commitment is to expand the brand across the globe with consistent service, food quality & great dining experience.

Prior to Thalappakatti, Senthil was the Chief Operating Officer of YLG (You Look Great), India's innovative premium beauty service chain, where he was responsible for building the brand from inception and scaling it to 75+ outlets across the country with omni-channel presence. He was instrumental in raising 3 rounds of growth capital from some of the marquee investors.

Senthil started his career with Arvind Brands and managed sales and operations for Arrow, Lee, and Wrangler, the luxury fashion brands offerings from Arvind Brands. As he explored to find the right fit for his passion, he joined Shoppers Stop Ltd and worked across Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai in different roles and designations. Before leaving, he was heading the region for Shoppers Stop, Home Stop, and Mother Care.

After 7+ long years of working with Shoppers Stop, he came back to his first company, Arvind Brands Ltd, as VP & Head - Operations & Business Development for Megamart, the value fashion vertical of the company (now Unlimited). He was responsible for Operations, Expansion, Marketing, and VM. He was one of the brains behind the large-format expansion of Megamart and was spread across 500,000 sqft of retail space.

Senthil has won many awards for the brands he worked with and was also selected as Young High Retail Professional of Asia in 2005 by IGDS. He is also a speaker, discussion panelist, and jury member in many retail and consumer forums.

Senthil holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Geology, and he is an alumnus of IIMB.