The Hindu Business Line : German kidswear major Hucke AG plans India foray

HUCKE AG of Germany, one of the largest European clothing manufacturers, is all set to foray into the Indian kidswear market in alliance with domestic partner — Novotex Exim — with the launch of its popular brand `Whoopi'.

Addressing newspersons here on Thursday, the Novotex Managing Director, Mr R.V. Venkat, said the Indian foray would take place through a mega flagship store at Prasad's Imax in Hyderabad this week.

The company plans to open 12 exclusive outlets across the country during the current year. Of this, two each would come up in Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad and six in Delhi. The company, which has a three-tier plan for outlets comprising exclusive shops, shop-in-shops and multi-brand outlets (MBOs), has earmarked an investment of Rs 6 crore for setting up 12 exclusive showrooms, Mr Venkat said.

Novotex is also setting up a modern manufacturing facility at a cost of around Rs 5 crore at Balanagar here with a capacity of 50,000 pieces per month. Stating that the plant would be operational by next month, he said apart from being a master franchisee for India and South Asia for Hucke brands, Novotex Exim would also be catering to the requirements of Hucke world over. It would export 80 per cent production to Hucke and sell around 20 per cent in the domestic market.

The company targets to achieve a turnover of Rs 25 crore in the first year of operations, which includes an export turnover of around Rs 15 crore. "Over the next three years, we expect the turnover to touch the Rs 100-crore mark, with about Rs 30 crore of domestic sales," Mr Venkat said. The Indian kidswear market, currently estimated at Rs 8,500 crore, has been fast growing at around 30 per cent per annum.

In terms of the long-term alliance with the Hyderabad-based company, Hucke would share its longstanding expertise in fashion by bringing in a brand new expression of international clothing for children in India, he said. The Whoopi brand would offer a wide range of clothing and accessories for boys and girls in the age group of 0-12 years with highly fashionable and advances styles in 100 per cent cotton garments. The range of accessories includes sun goggles, belts, sandals etc. Next year, the company proposes to set up more exclusive stores in cities such as Bangalore, Kochi and Kolkata. It also plans to open 50 shop-in-shops and associate with leading MBOs.

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