The Hindu Business Line : Classic Polo hopes to be a Rs 100-cr brand

CLASSIC Polo, which has made an aggressive entry into the domestic market for menswear will become a Rs 100-crore brand by 2008, according to Mr R. Sivaram, Executive Director, Royal Classic Mills (P) Ltd, Tirupur, part of the Royal Classic group that owns the brand.

The company, which recently launched a range of innerwear under the brand name Smash, expects this line to earn an income of Rs 20 crore during the first year and clock 25-30 per cent annual growth in the next few years.

Speaking to Business Line, he said it had taken four years for the Classic Polo brand to have a national presence and in the next two to three years he wanted the brand to consolidate its position in the market. The company has now nine own outlets and it wanted to add twenty more sales outlets during the current fiscal. These would be exclusive brand showrooms but the operations would be of three different types — company owned-dealer operated, dealer owned-dealer operated and company owned-company operated.

He said with malls and multiplexes coming up in major cities, there would be instances where company owned-company operated outlets have to be established in them since substantial investment would be required to open showrooms in malls.

But the company would treat such outlets as anchor shops to retain brand value and image. The new outlets would be opened only in South India. Negotiations were on for opening showrooms in Bangalore, Kochi and Chennai.

Mr Sivaram said Classic Polo products notched up sales of about Rs 35 crore during the last year in the domestic market and in the next three years he expected the sales to reach Rs 100 crore. He expected the Smash brand to bring in a revenue of Rs 20 crore during the current year but this would grow at an annual rate of 25-30 per cent. It was estimated that the branded inner wear market was worth about Rs 800 crore annually in the country with six or seven national brands dominating the market at the national level with many regional brands holding sway at the regional level.

Asked about the price the company paid for acquiring the `Smash' brand, he said he would not like to disclose the price since the deal was between two friends. The previous owner of the brand wanted it to make a comeback.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Shangri-La group enters India with Traders Hotel in Chennai

Citibank, MTV launch co-branded debit card

New-economy cos see promise in rural India

Nestle steps up efforts to grow market share

Retailers plan pilot project for inventory tracking

High rentals keep FoodWorld stores out of Mumbai

Raymond on the lookout for designers for brand `Be'

Shirts brand Turtle forays into European market

Classic Polo hopes to be a Rs 100-cr brand