Landmark Group

About the Founder and Founding Story

Mukesh Wadhumal Jagtiani, also known as Micky Jagtiani, was born in Kuwait in 1952.^[7] His parents had recently relocated from India for better economic prospects. At the age of three, his father sent him and his elder brother, Mahesh, to India to live with their aunt and complete their education.^[8] At the age of 12, Micky was sent to a boarding school in Beirut, and in 1969 he moved to London to study accounting at college. He didn’t take to the subject, however, and eventually dropped out. To support himself in the British capital, which was hit by a recession in the early 1970s, he took on jobs like cleaning hotel rooms and driving a minicab.^[9]

Following the death of his brother under tragic circumstances, 21-year-old Micky moved to Bahrain in 1973 to take over his deceased sibling’s baby products retail store. Investing $3,000 from the family savings in the store, which he dubbed Babyshop, Micky laid the foundation for the Landmark Group.^[10] Around the turn of the decade, Micky married Renuka from Mumbai, who has been both his life partner and business collaborator ever since. The couple had three children together: Nisha, Aarti, and Rahul.^[11]

Growth Phase 

Amid the turmoil caused by the Gulf War in the early 1990s, Micky took advantage of an opportunity to move to Dubai, where he soon established the Landmark Group and began rapidly expanding his business around the GCC.^[12] In 1992, Babyshop opened its first store in Muscat, Oman. Renuka joined Landmark in 1993, making her mark with Splash, a successful fast-fashion endeavor, which opened a store in Sharjah that same year.^[13] In 1994 the Landmark Group ventured into Saudi Arabia and introduced the first Home Centre in Sharjah a year later. Toward the end of the decade, the group inaugurated the first Fun City in the UAE and launched Landmark Hospitality. Additionally, in 1999, the Landmark Group expanded into the family’s home country, India, opening several department stores under its new Lifestyle brand.^[14]

The Landmark Group continued to expand and diversify throughout the 2000s. In 2015, the group celebrated a significant milestone when the doors of its 2,000th store opened.^[15] In May 2023, the group’s founder, Micky, passed away, leaving a legacy that would be carried forward by his widow, Renuka, who assumed the roles of chairwoman and CEO.^[16]

Today

Today, the Landmark Group is a leading retail and hospitality conglomerate in the region, with over 48,000 employees and 2,200 stores across 21 locations in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia.^[17] The group gives its customers access to a diverse portfolio of more than 40 high-quality brands, with both owned and franchised labels, including Splash, Babyshop, Max, Lifestyle, and many more.^[18] Headquartered in the city of Dubai, the Landmark Group continues to thrive under the leadership of Renuka as CEO and chairwoman, with active involvement from second-generation members Nisha, Aarti, and Rahul, each of whom serves as a group director in the family business.^[19]