The Hindu Business Line : Arvind Brands to enhance presence in small towns

APPARELS major Arvind Brands Ltd has planned to widen the geographical presence of its domestic brands, as part of its market development strategy, by targeting the untapped buying power of small towns.

The strategy includes increasing the number of outlets of domestic brands such as Newport and Ruf 'n Tuf and shirts brands such as Excalibur and is aimed at converting people to readymades.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Darshan Mehta, Managing Director, Arvind Brands, said, "We plan to address the bottom end of the pyramid and entice these consumers to shift from tailored to readymade clothes."

Arvind Brands plans to push the retail presence of Newport jeans, the once top-selling mass-market denim brand priced at Rs 399, from 1,200 outlets across 480 towns to 3,000 outlets covering 800 towns by the end of this financial year.

Similarly, Ruf 'n Tuf, the entry-level jeans will ride piggyback on the retail boom spearheaded by Big Bazaar — a fast expanding discount store chain owned by Pantaloon. Ruf 'n Tuf has an exclusive distribution arrangement with the 10-outlet Pantaloon chain, which plans to set 12 more outlets by end of 2005.

"Besides having a B2C arrangement in Big Bazaars, Ruf 'n Tuf will also use this premise for B2B business where small retailers of Ruf n' Tuf in small towns can come and buy our apparel in bulk," added Mr Mehta.

The apparel company will also extend its bottom-of-the-pyramid market strategy to its mid-priced formalwear, Excalibur. Arvind Brands Ltd plans to increase the geographical presence from 350 towns to 500 towns.

However, the company prefers to continue with its selective distribution approach in the case of its international labels such as Arrow, Lee, Tommy Hilfiger and Wrangler.

Arvind Brands on Sunday launched a Tommy Hilfiger store in Mumbai, which is the fifth store of its kind. The company plans one Tommy Hilfiger store each in Hyderabad and Kolkata by end of this year.

More Stories on : Retailing | Readymade Garments | Brands

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