The Hindu Business Line : Shirts brand Turtle forays into European market

BRANDED shirt manufacturer Turtle Ltd has made a foray into the European market following an arrangement entered into with a London-headquartered shirt manufacturing company.

To begin with shirts manufactured by Turtle would be sold under the UK company's brand name. At a later stage, Turtle is hopeful of rolling out shirts in the UK market under its own brand, according to Mr Sanjay Jhunjhunwalla, Managing Director of Turtle Ltd.

Mr Jhunjhunwalla, who declined to divulge the name of the UK company citing a confidentiality agreement between the two companies, said the arrangement would help Turtle generate export revenue in excess of Rs 1 crore in the current fiscal.

After stabilising exports to the UK, Turtle would commence exports to other European countries as well. A tie-up has also been entered into with a UK-based agency for forecast of designs.

Turtle shirts are manufactured in three factories located in Kolkata, Howrah and Bangalore, which together manufacture over 2,000 shirts per day. These are retailed through exclusive outlets and dealer networks that are spread across the country. The idea in the days ahead is to augment exclusive retail chain and push salesthrough chain stores such as Pantaloon and Shoppers' Stop.

According to Mr Jhunjhunwalla, in addition to shirts, T-shirts are also sold from the company's exclusive outlets. Soon, ties and cuff links would also be sold through the company's exclusive showrooms.

To hardsell the Turtle brand, the company has appointed Response India to chalk out a "branding onslaught" that will be unleashed later in August this year. Before this is done, a market survey is being conducted by IMRB to obtain customer feedback in this regard.

Turtle Ltd has ended fiscal 2004-05 with a turnover of Rs 19 crore. The company hopes to record a 30 per cent increase in turnover in the current fiscal, according to Mr Jhunjhunwalla.

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