Being Human Seeking expansion across India through Franchising

Being Human clothing in addition to product are offered through five unique shops and 31 shop-in-shops. The business is managed by Mandhana Industries, a clothing exporter, that'll handle the retail business, creating, production and marketing for the manufacturer till March 2020. 

Presently, the brand's target class is 15-40 year-olds. As the preliminary apparel point is for males only, the organization plans to start women's use and kidswear by March. 

There's without doubt that Mandhana is certainly going all out. It's pulled up a complex development strategy for Being Human by tying up with top retail stores for the shop-in- store platforms. 

'By the finish of the fiscal year, we intend to start eight unique company shops and still another 30 shop-in-shops. By next year, their goal is 40 unique shops and 200 shop-in- stores in addition to another 150 to 200 franchisees,' states Mitesh Shah, vice chairman, financing and corporate affairs of Mandhana. 

Shah says out of this past year the five shops that have been exposed since October, four have already were able to break even. 

'Shah's confidence however, many say it's hard to simply accept at the same time when perhaps top manufacturers have found the going difficult for 2 factors -- less discretionary spending in the hands of customers and an over-crowded market. 

'Being Human has been situated as a life style manufacturer in the mid- to advanced variety, which has manufacturers such as for example Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Woodland and Uni Style Image. 

Brand specialists state Being Human got an enormous initial drive because of the mass attraction of Khan, who's the experience of the manufacturer. However the true problem for the store will begin following the hoopla around it decreases. 'People can come to the shops because of the attention element because of Khan, but rationality gets control after that,' a specialist says. 

Besides, as Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak Advisors, says, 'The goal market for the manufacturer isn't obvious. It's to make certain it knows who their clients are be very specific concerning the styles and also. Centered on all of this, a definite interaction technique for clients must be in the offing'

Launch of Lifestyle Retail for Virtuous Retail

Virtuous Retail released its flagship life style retail center VR Surat within an function held at The Courtyard at 51 Buckingham Gate, London. VR Surat may be the first retail life style location amongst a number of retail improvements underneath the VR umbrella, which are coming up in the Indian towns including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata. 

 

The approaching retail location is spread across six lakh sq. Foot. and Virtuous Retail has authorized Guess, Only, Accessorize, Calvin Klein Jeans, Esprit, Nautica, Reliance Digital, and Shoppers Stop whilst the tenants. According to Anupam Yog, Marketing Director, Virtuous Retail, 'We visualize VR Surat to be always a focus for the city where people might gather for celebrations, festivities and fairs. VR Surat lies as a residential area location where we shall start social programs along side world-class organisations.' 

 

Proven in 2007, Virtuous Retail is just a retail property resource system financed by The Xander Group, having an preliminary motivation 600 million pounds (above Rs 3,000 crores) in value. Virtuous Retail is creating a pan-India profile of life style, retail and community centers.

The East India Company launches first franchise in Kuwait

The East India Company is once again expanding its global trade relationships with the exciting news that the first East India Company franchise store will launch in Kuwait in February.

Opening on 13 February 2013, this new franchise store will carry The East India Company's world renowned teas and coffees; artisan sweet and savoury biscuits; an exquisite chocolate range including luxurious bars and an enrobed selection of fruits, peels, coffee beans and nuts; and gourmet salts and sugars. 

The store will also feature a truly delightful new range of Chakra inspired herbal infusions that taste wonderful and help bring balance to the day.

The franchise will be operated by the Al Maousherji Group which is a family-owned business enterprise based in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with subsidiaries based in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain and India. A grand opening of the store will be held by the British ambassador of Kuwait, and a VIP reception in the British ambassador's residence.

Manyavar to launch women’s ethnic wear brand, “Maanya,” by next festive season.

It started small – from a small shop in AC Market in Kolkata in 1990, to be precise. Today Manyavar brand of men’s ethnic wear has 221 stores and boasts of a turnover of more than Rs 300 crore. The brand has presence in more than 90 Indian cities with 221 exclusive business outlets (EBOs) and more than 800 multi-business outlets.

The company has aggressive growth plans for the future and plans to open 10 flagship stores every year in all metro cities and make its presence known in 100 cities. Also, Manyavar is looking at having no less than 500 EBOs in the next two years.

Vedant Fashions, the company that owns Manyavar brand, is also chalking out a global strategy – it already has stores in Dubai, Sharjah and Bangladesh. It now wants to cover all cities in the UAE as well as open one more store in Bangladesh and make a foray into the markets of Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal, the US and the UK in the near future.

For Ravi Modi, Chairman, Manyavar, the retail story started with dissatisfaction. “Even when we had just one store in Kolkata, I was not satisfied with men’s ethnic wear that we got from our suppliers.” Not only were the products they sourced over-priced, there was also a lack of creativity when it came to designs and fabrics. As if that wasn’t enough, Modi had to struggle with untimely supplies. “I decided to start my own line of men’s ethnic wear and thus was born Manyavar,” says Modi, with a satisfied smile.

The first Manyavar store opened in Bhubaneswar Forum Mart in 2008. The store was extremely well received, validating Modi’s point that there was a definite gap in the market when it came to affordable ethnic wear in men’s wear. In its first year itself, the company’s turnover was about Rs 40 crore, with 41 outlets all over India.

It wasn’t like there weren’t challenges, however. The company had to establish its brand of exclusive men’s ethnic wear at a time when other established men’s apparel companies that sold pin-stripe shirts and fabric were also selling a small collection of kurtas and sherwanis. “Men’s ethnic wear has been an extremely unorganised sector, be it fabric sourcing, embroidery and embellishments or stitching of the clothes,” reveals Modi. Not only that, the lack of creativity in the sector made the market drab and boring.

And therein lay the gap. Essentially catering to the wedding market where the groom and the men in the family also wanted to “dress up”, the ethnic wear segment had little to offer.

Manyavar took this challenge head-on and established its own manufacturing unit in Kolkata. With extensive research about fabrics, colours, hues, and even international trends, the company today has an extensive catalogue of products that includes not just kurtas, shervanis and Indo-Western wear but also accessories such as scarves, brooches, safas, kilangis, dupattas, cummerbunds, jutis and bajubands.

Setting up its own manufacturing unit may have meant a substantial amount of capital investment for Modi in the beginning but it has more that paid off. Not only does it keep overheads and middlemen to the bare minimum, it also means the company has total control of the supply chain and ensures timely deliveries. The four manufacturing units in Kolkata have a capacity to produce one million products on an annual basis.

Manyavar’s pride and joy? The company’s EBO at Karol Bagh in Delhi, one of the biggest wedding markets in India. Sprawling over 21,000 sq ft, the Manyavar outlet in the western part of the capital, the outlet sings luxury and has even become a landmark in the area. Apart from company outlets, Manyavar is also considering to take the franchising route for its expansion plans. “We prefer raw people with a good family background,” says Modi, talking about his criteria for choosing a franchise partner. The company has gone on an expansion spree in the past one year and Modi feels it is in keeping with the changing times. As billboards, hoardings, print ads and more stores become more visible, Modi says, “It is time for extensive advertising and make everyone feel the presence of the brand.” In the pipeline is the launch of women’s ethnic wear with the brand name “Maanya”, which will be launched by next festive season. “It would be along the lines of Manyavar – ethnic festive occasional wear,” says Modi. The company is looking at a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years. All dressed for the party, we say.

Helios in expansion mode

Helios, the multi-brand watch retailer from Titan Industries, plans to open another 13 stores in different parts of the country by the end of this fiscal. A wide range of latest designs across 20 international brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, FCUK, Fossil, Guess and Armani, ranging Rs 3,000 to Rs 48,000 would be available in the showrooms. By the end of this fiscal, Helios would have 50 stores in India and would open more such stores in future.

Aviraté to open 9 stores

Aviraté, a premium international women’s western apparel brand retailed exclusively in India by Fashion 365 Retail, a subsidiary of Sri Lankan Timex Garments, is expanding its footprint across India with a total investment of Rs 20 crore. 

The brand will also enter the Far East, West Asia and Australia in the next two years with separate investments. 

The Aviraté brand from privately held Timex Garments is one of the top five apparel manufacturers of Sri Lanka with sales revenues of Rs 1,200 crore (FY2012). The firm derives 90 per cent of its revenues from garment exports to international brands such as Espirit, Wallis, M&Co, Jones New York, Diesel and Marks and Spencer. 

Timex Garments has already invested Rs 10 crore in India in stores and stocks and will invest an additional Rs 10 crore to open nine more company owned stores across India in the next financial year. The firm will open four more stores across Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chandigarh in the next six months. 

India’s retail sector is currently estimated at around $450 billion, and organised retail accounts for around five per cent of the total market share, out of which the demand for ready made and western outfits is growing at about 40-45 per cent annually.

‘Dressing Up New India’ Vimal Plans to expand Franchise Network

Vimal, the textile brand owned by Reliance Industries has plans to expand its franchise network with 1,500 new retailers expected to stock its fabrics and apparels. The company recently released a fresh communication strategy in line with its plans, which says “1,500 new outlets across India are waiting for you…” The ad also includes a woman wearing a western dress. Much as the company claims that it is not getting into women’s western wear fabrics, there are indications that the extended franchises are getting roped in to enable the company get into fabrics for women and even home furnishings in the near future.

The textile company revamped the heritage brand in 2007. At present, it has 15 flagship stores apart from 400-odd franchise outlets. By adding 1,500 franchises, the company is looking at increasing the number of franchisees to 1,800 to balance its capital expenditure. In the past, the company had indicated that women’s fabrics would be a natural extension of the Vimal franchise.

With the tagline ‘Dressing Up New India’ Vimal has positioned itself as a brand for the masses. So far offering fabrics for menswear, its new communication strategy hints at the company’s entry into fabrics for women’s wear, though it has not confirmed the development. Though there is tough competition from Raymond and Siyaram, Vimal has the advantage of using the retail formats of the company such as Reliance Trends and Reliance Marts. There is also a likelihood of starting e-commerce through its website onlyvimal.com.